Light and Darkness
by Homura Kagari
Summary: Sly still has amnesia from Sly3 and is working with Carmelita. Meanwhile, they have made some powerful enemies. When our heros have prices on their heads, it may take more than cops to save them.
1. Angels and Demons

Disclaimer: Same as the last, I have no claim to Sly or the other characters made by Sucker Punch. The only ones I have a claim to are the ones which you won't recognize

Angels and Demons

_This is some of the most fun I've had in ages._ Thought Sly as he looked at the rain pouring down his window at the French Interpol office. _His _office. And on top of that, he had a dinner date with Carmelita after he got off work. He sighed, and began to work on the necessary evil of paperwork. _It is amazing_, he thought, _how many criminals_ _Carmelita and I have taken down since the fiasco at the Cooper Vault. It's amazing how big Interpol's database is, Bentley could even learn something from their information gathering techniques_.

Sly felt an stab of guilt as he remembered the friends he had left when he had joined the other side of the law. He had dug up some info on his friends recently. Bentley and Penelope were, to the best of his knowledge, still together. Murray was racing for fun and was getting several headlines, even in Paris. Wondering what his friends were doing now, Sly berated himself for becoming distracted. Getting back to work he filled out some report on his and Carmelita's last case, a very grisly murder in Nice. It had become a game of cat and mouse when the murderer had discovered Sly and Carmelita and they were forced to take him in by force. The murderer was still recuperating from Carmelita's shock pistol. As Sly finished the report, the rain beat down on the windows of his office.

Not far away, another person was looking into the rain-filled sky. He was a tall gray wolf with an acrobat's form. Drawing a sword with a red blade from the sheath on his back he thought_ Time to get to work._

"Hello Ringtail," came a soft voice from across the office. Sly looked up and found Carmelita looking at him from the doorway.

"Have you finished already?" asked Sly.

"Yeah, what about you?"she responded.

"Just finished. So I do believe that I have something to do. Let's see what was it? Oh yes," he said as he kissed her passionately, "that was it. Let's go my love."

Sly and Carmelita left Interpol and took the metro to Carmelita's favorite restaurant. Sly was especially anxious as today was the day he planned on proposing to Carmelita. As they entered the restaurant, they were shown to their table by a stocky ferret. Sly and Carmelita ordered and after finishing their food, Sly asked " Do you remember when we first met?"

"Yeah, we had just left officer training school and were assigned to work together. That was about two years before your accident," lied Carmelita. She hated lying to Sly but she knew it was preferable to having him return to his previous life of crime.

"Carmelita, there was something I've been wanting to ask you for a while now," said Sly looking right into her eyes.

"What do you want to ask?" inquired Carmelita, hoping he wouldn't ask about his past as it had been hard enough to get the rest of Interpol to accept Sly.

"First I need to tell you something. The first time we met was when I "helped" you on a case here in Paris at an opera house. I let you catch me and then escaped, thanks to a janitor, and stopped a stage manager from making off with the Diva Diamond. I then sent it back, along with the crook and my calling card."

"How..." started Carmelita.

"I remember everything. I never had amnesia. I used that as an excuse to be able to join your side of the law. I gave up my life as a thief that day."

"But why didn't you just turn yourself in?"

"Because with your skills you would have had me locked behind bars in seconds and I couldn't easily romance you from inside a jail cell. Plus, I would only have gotten one phone call I could have used to contact you. I wanted to be with you Carmelita. I know I shouldn't have lied, but it was the only way to be able to get close to you without being shot at."

"You've been lying to me the whole time?"

"Only about not remembering the past, everything else I've said was true. Carmelita, I choose to tell you because you deserve to know the truth before I ask you my next question."

"What is it Ringtail?" asked Carmelita suspiciously, reaching for her shock pistol.

"This might not be the perfect time but...will you marry me?" asked Sly kneeling down and opening a black velvet box which held the most beautiful ring Carmelita had ever seen. Carmelita looked at the ring mistrustfully. "I bought it, the only crime was the store owner's prices," assured Sly. The ring was gold with a huge diamond with two smaller sapphires next to it on either side.

For a few seconds Carmelita was silent. Then she asked "Will you keep working for Interpol if I say no?"

"Yeah, it's gotten to be a kind of habit," sighed Sly. He knew he must have blown it somehow and she was trying to let him down easily. He sighed inwardly. He had been so close and he'd blown it. The one true love of his life and he'd botched his proposal. Maybe he should have waited to tell her about remembering until after he'd proposed.

"Then yes, I will," admitted Carmelita. Sly was so surprised, he was actually speechless. Carmelita leaned forward and kissed him. They stayed there for what felt like an eternity, then broke apart after what definitely felt like not long enough.

"I love you Carmelita."

"I love you too Ringtail."

Outside the restaurant, a hawk in a black trench coat with a briefcase climbed to the top of the building directly opposite the restaurant. Using the fire escape, he moved unnoticed in the downpour. At the top , he opened his briefcase and removed an object that could have been a telescope, if telescopes had triggers. Arming the sniper rifle, he waited, watching the entrance to the restaurant. He was one of the best and was paid accordingly. He knew his orders by heart, kill Sly Cooper and Carmelita Fox.


	2. The Guardians

Disclaimer: Same as before: I don't own Sly blah blah blah only characters I own are the ones I made up.

_Sorry it took me so long to get this posted, but I've been recently attacked by a wave of vampire monsters called homework. I have also improved Chapter 1._

The Guardians

Not far from where the sniper was waiting, a wolf in a black coat with a strange object strapped to his back. He had silver hair which fell into his eyes and eyes that were as blue as the sky. He, like the sniper, had no illusions about why he was there. He was waiting for his partner to arrive. _He's late_ he thought, staring into the rain-filled sky. _He's always late._ _For once, it would be nice if he could arrive on time._ Suddenly a dark shape, a black jaguar, landed behind the wolf.

"Onde esta˜o nossos alvos?" asked the jaguar as he approached the wolf.

"You're still talking in Portuguese," said the wolf.

"Where are our targets?" repeated the jaguar as he stepped into the dim light. He was taller than the wolf and was thinner and less muscular. He moved carefully, as if treading on a mine field. His sheer black hair fell well past his shoulders and his eyes were as black as his hair."Cooper and Fox are in the restaurant, haven't come out yet. There's an amateur sniper on the building next to us, one over the restaurant, and another looking out the window of this building. I swear, these 'experts' are getting sloppier every year," said the wolf staring off into the rain.

"They haven't had to compete with us for a while. You know, hunting Cooper and Fox might be amusing, they've got great reputations."

"Forget it. We only catch the ones who deserve to be caught, and Cooper hardly rates that. Plus, you know we don't kill if we can help it."

"Can I take out the snipers then?"

" Leave one. We need to show Cooper and Fox that their lives really are in danger."

"If you insist," groaned the jaguar, leaping off the building before landing on the sill of the window the sniper had occupied. After hearing a loud whack, the wolf knew that the sniper was out cold.

Meanwhile, in the restaurant, Carmelita and Sly were just getting ready to leave the restaurant.

"So you really knew the whole time?" asked Carmelita.

"Yeah, by the way, you should try harder to get the other officers to work harder at not remembering, several of them slipped up when I talked to them."

Carmelita sighed. "I just can't see why you didn't tell me earlier."

"It got kind of fun, seeing how the others always walked on tiptoes when they were near me and working with the most beautiful soon-to-be captain Interpol has ever had."

"Adulación. You really are impossible Cooper!"

"Thank you, Carmelita."

Just as the two were stepping out of the restaurant, a shot rang out.


	3. The Discovery

Disclaimer: More of the same, I don't own Sly or the other characters made by Sucker Punch just my own.

_In order to make up for the last chapter being late, I wrote this one soon after Chapter 2._

_P.S. Thank you for your great reviews_

The Discovery

As the bullet flew towards the pair, Sly jumped in front of Carmelita, preparing to take the bullet for her. Suddenly, a wolf landed in front of them and pulled out something on his back. Sly heard the sound of metal on metal and looked down to see the bullet cleanly slashed in half

The wolf slipped him a note and said "Follow those directions exactly, go!"

Sly grabbed Carmelita and they began to run as Sly opened the letter. A set of keys and a note came out. The note said: _Now is not the time for explanations, take the Lotus Elise across the street and go to this address. _Under the writing was an address an directions as how to get there. Sly and Carmelita ran for the Elise and jumped in. Sly put in the keys and was about to start the car when he caught Carmelita looking at him suspiciously.

"The keys were in the note," said Sly, guessing correctly that Carmelita was concerned about where he had gotten the keys. Sly started the car and they took off down the streets of Paris. Arriving at the address on the note, they parked outside and entered. It was a warehouse, filled to the roof with miscellaneous items and odd merchandise. Looking back at the note, Sly saw there was more writing on the back which read: _At the address, go to the door at the end of the hallway and enter the code 11-24-8._

Sly and Carmelita ran to the end of the hallway and entered the combination. The door opened and they stepped in. Sly and Carmelita turned around just as the doors closed and the room started moving down. As the elevator stopped, they got out and were shocked by what they found. They were in a huge room filled with anything a hideout could need. It was equipped with all the necessities: plasma screen TV, DVD player, PS2, refrigerator, couches, and several rooms of the first room.. Sly and Carmelita walked in a few paces before a black jaguar entered from one of the rooms and sat on the couch.

"Alright where are we and what's going on?" asked Carmelita angrily. She had been having a really bad day. Someone had tried to kill them, Sly had never had amnesia, and the daredevil ride across Paris could have killed them. Needless to say, she was not happy when the jaguar answered.

"You're gonna have to wait for my partner to come back, I don't do briefings."

"Who do you..." Carmelita began before Sly stopped her. Right then, the door opened again and the wolf stepped out.

" I do believe I owe the two of you an explanation. Please sit down." Sly and Carmelita sat on one of the couches while the wolf sat on a chair. "Firstly, tonight could have been a lot worse if my friend and I hadn't gotten to the other snipers in time. Tonight you should have died. Luckily, you got out. Those men were sent by Borus Wainwright. Do you know of him?"

"He's a multi-millionaire who got his money from real estate. It's rumored that some of his business deals have not been exactly legal. He's on Interpol's list of possible criminals but he's pretty low on the list," answered Carmelita automatically.

"Do you want to know why he's so low on the list? He gives money regularly to Interpol's research divisions. He's actually one of the most dangerous people in the known world. He has contacts in the Russian mafia, the American mob, the Yakuza (the Japanese mob), and several other mobs and terrorist organizations. He often acts their negotiator between the several groups. Apparently, the two of you seem to have gotten in his way and he's been forced to use force, probably because he knew he couldn't bribe or corrupt the two of you. Cooper, Inspector Fox, we want to take this creep down, but we can't do it without your help. Cooper, we need you to come out of retirement."

"You seem to know a lot about us, but who are you?" asked Sly.

"Us? My name is Cedric and my jaguar friend over there is Hugo. We're The Headhunters. I assume you've heard of us."


	4. Different Paths

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix.

Different Paths

"The Headhunters? The two of you are The Headhunters?" asked Carmelita astonished.

"I've heard of you, aren't the two of you supposed to have worked for Interpol?" asked Sly intrigued.

"We're mercs. We take almost any job for the right price" said Hugo.

"What he means is we've worked for a large clientele, on both sides of the law. We've worked for Interpol and other government agencies to help find dishonorable criminals and honorable criminals have hired us to evade capture or break them out. We've worked with Interpol twice, the CIA five times, and MI6 once. We've engineered five breakouts, destroyed three drug rings and helped cause the fall of both Saddam Hussain and Osama Bin Laden," listed Cedric.

"I thought it was the Americans who found Saddam," mentioned Sly.

"Who do think told them where to look?" asked Hugo arrogantly.

"But the two of you can't be The Headhunters. They've been working for close to fifty years now and you two don't look older than 19!"

"Appearances can be deceiving, we're actually 17," mocked Hugo.

"And we're not the original Headhunters. If you look carefully, you'll notice that several people have lived longer than is possible, some close to a couple hundred years. This is because such titles are passed down to new bearers when the others get too old," explained Cedric. "We took up the title a year ago and have been inactive for the past few months. Anyway, getting back to business. You two are currently fugitives and the only way for you to escape Wainwright is to help us take him down and no Interpol cop can do that. We need the Master Thief and his gang.

"Why are you trying to help us? We didn't hire you," asked Carmelita suspiciously.

"No, we were hired to capture you. However, we refused to capture two honorable people and returned the client's money. We may not be on the 'right' side of the law, but we're not evil."

Carmelita reached behind her slowly and pulled out her shock pistol as if to shoot the two of them. "I don't care why you helped us. I have your confession and I know you're criminals so it is my duty to take you into custody."

"You can try but you won't succeed," said Hugo menacingly.

"You really think we're evil simply because we're not on your side of the law?" asked Cedric, his face unreadable.

"You commit crimes and disturb the populace. You steal from innocents and abuse the citizens. Isn't that what all criminals do?"

Cedric sighed. "This is going to take a while to explain. Let me give you an example. A common motif is that what ever lives in the light is good, but anything that happens in the dark is bad. In truth, there is good and evil, and there is light and darkness, but the two aren't the same. Are all cops perfect? No, some are immoral and sadistic. Not all criminals are evil just as not all cops are good. Cooper and his friend are a perfect example of this. They only go after criminals who deserve to be caught and not those who don't deserve it, citizen or criminal. There is good and evil in everyone. No one has never done anything wrong, no one has never done anything good. There are many paths that lead to good and many that lead to evil. Some lie in the dark others in the light. We each have free will and it's our duty to make the right choices. 'God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us,'- Niccolò Machiavelli."

"What you're saying is that the entire justice system is flawed?" asked Carmelita.

"No. Interpol and other groups catch many crooks who hurt innocents. The honorable crooks are harder to catch because of connections with other honorable crooks. The system usually works and people like Cooper, Hugo, and myself catch those that otherwise would not be caught by the cops. Plus, our jobs are more fun. Here's an idea. You can watch us work and if you still feel the same after we take down Wainwright, feel free to _try_ to catch us. Call it infiltration, it's a chance to learn about how we work."

"Alright, but after you take down Wainwright, you're all mine."

"Fair enough. We won't resist...much. Deal?"

"Deal."

"What am I chopped liver?" asked Sly who had been strangely quiet throughout all this.

"Well, are you going to help?" asked Hugo.

"I will follow Carmelita to the end of the world. If she goes, I go," Sly responded.

"Then let's get this party started," said Cedric as a feral smile grew on his face.


	5. The New Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix.

_Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, I appreciate any and all suggestions **EXCEPT FLAMES**. Extra thanks to Faina and Heiduska and to the229 people who have so far looked at my fic._

The New Beginning

"Now, I assume the two of you have had a long evening so you should probably get some rest. So would the happy couple like one room or separate rooms?" asked Cedric smiling innocently.

"Separate rooms, thank you," said Carmelita jerkily

"Bad luck dude," laughed Hugo.

Carmelita began to growl and Cedric, sensing that if Hugo kept talking, he would need a trip to the hospital, 'gently' pushed Hugo out of the room before showing Carmelita and Sly to their rooms. Carmelita's was spacious with cream walls and oak furniture. There was a queen-sized bed with freshly turned down sheets which looked like the most comfortable bed in all existence. Sly's room was the same, only the walls were gray instead of cream. Very subtly, the two rooms happened to be right across from each other

"I hope you two find the rooms to your liking, and tomorrow we may have some more guests. We can pick up some of your things from your respective apartments tomorrow. Then we will go looking for the remnants of the great Cooper gang. Bon nuit," said Cedric as he left. "So, what do you make of them?" asked Sly.

"That Cedric's a bit odd and his friend needs a lesson in manners," grumbled Carmelita.

"I thought I saw something when Cedric began talking about Wainwright. Hatred maybe?"

"Why would he hate Wainwright? What is the likelihood that the two of them have met?" wondered Carmelita.

"I got the feeling that the two of them know a lot more then they are telling us. But it's not like we have much choice but to work with them. Good night my love."

"Night Ringtail, and I don't want any night time visitors understood?"

"Carmelita, I am a gentleman. I have no intention of going against your wishes. Except those that end with me serving a few years in some rotting jail."

"Good night Cooper," said Carmelita as she closed her door.

_Sleep well my love _thought Sly as he entered his room. Sly leapt into his bed thinking _Cedric's eyes definitely showed hatred_ _when he mentioned Wainwright. What kind of connection could the two of them have had?_

Back in the living room, Cedric was talking on his cell phone.

"That was Grace. She's gonna help us on this one. She's calling Julie to tell her we might need a place to stay in America for a while," said Cedric.

"Good . We could use some more help on this one," responded Hugo, " And I bet you're happy about Grace coming, huh lover-boy."

"Shut up," growled Cedric as he left for his room. Entering, he sat down on his bed and withdrew his sword. It was somewhat long and resembled a medieval knight's sword. However, in medieval Europe, this sword would have been considered witchcraft. The blade was made out of a titanium-steel alloy and had a several diamond fragments in the blade, allowing it to cut through almost anything. He set down his blade. _I swore, I would defeat you with this blade Borus, and with God as my witness, I shall._


	6. Old Friends, New Friends, and a Girl

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix.

_Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, I appreciate any and all suggestions **EXCEPT FLAMES**. _

Old Friends, New Friends, and a Girl

Across the world in America, a pretty vixen was walking into the night. She had reddish-brown fur and light brown hair which fell past her shoulders. _Cedric, Hugo, what have you gotten yourselves into this time?_ she thought. Pulling out her cell phone she placed a call to an old friend.

"Hey Julie, it's me, Grace."

"You're calling me at three in the morning, what's up?" came a sleepy but distinctly feminine voice from the speaker.

"It's our two friends again."

"Oh good, I've been getting fat and lazy waiting for something to happen. What is it this time?"

"Apparently, Wainwright tried to have two people killed and our friends helped them."

"They're so charitable, it'll get them killed. Who pulled the lucky number this time?"

"Master Thief Sly Cooper and Interpol Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox."

"Ah, some high rollers."

"Yeah, Cedric asked me to ask if you've got the American hideout set up."

"Isn't it always? By the way, it's hell down here in Vegas. I can't walk down the street without seeing one of Kruger's men."

"That could be a problem. Is it true that Mugshot's down there too.?"

"Yeah. So what's your job Grace?"

"Crowd control. Someone has to make sure those two keep their heads down."

"True enough. Nice talking to ya Grace. Seeya soon."

Grace hung up. Jumping into her car, an Audi A3, she thought _I wonder how much a plane flight to Japan from D.C. costs these days? What ever it is, Cedric's paying!_

Meanwhile, in Paris; Cedric had woken up and was rummaging through the fridge. Grabbing eight eggs and four slices of bacon, he began to make breakfast. In one frying pan, he began to scramble the eggs while frying the bacon. After the food was done, he slid the food onto the plates and laid them at the places on the tables. He went over to Hugo's room and knocked.

"What?" came Hugo's usual growl.

"Food's getting cold."

"Coming," grumbled Hugo.

Going to Sly's and Carmelita's rooms to wake them up he found Sly walking down the hall towards the main room, already dressed and ready. Cedric walked over towards Carmelita's room not knowing that she was even less of a morning person than Hugo. Knocking, he said "Breakfast."

"Go away," came the muffled voice from inside the room.

"You don't know this, but all the beds come with an alarm. It rings once and then waits for you to hit the button on the wall across the room. If you don't hit it in three minutes, the fight side of the bed rises, dumping you on the floor. If you don't want a really rude awakening and cold food, I suggest you get up now."

"When I have you behind bars, I'm going to wake you up at all hours of the night!"

"You'd have to catch me first and if you run as quickly as you get up, you'd be miles behind me in minutes."

"Point taken, go away."

Cedric walked down the hall back to his breakfast. Four minutes later, Carmelita joined them.

"So, what are we going to do first?" asked Sly.

"We need to get the old gang back together. We should probably start with Bentley and Penelope as they are still together. Currently, they are in Japan for a scientific conference of some kind under the disguise of Jack and Amela Brown," said Cedric.

"Don't tell me I missed the..." objected Sly.

"It's just their disguise, they're not married, yet. However, our plane leaves in six hours so you better get ready."

After picking up a few choice items from Sly's and Carmelita's apartments, they entered the airport in disguise. Cedric was dressed like a secret service agent, Hugo like a french artist, complete with beret, and Sly and Carmelita as business executives. As the plane took off, Sly thought_ It's gonna be good to see you Bentley, I'm coming._


	7. Japan Anyone?

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix.

_Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, _**I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **EXCEPT FLAMES**_. Also, the character contest is still going on _so, if you have any characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). Thank you.

Japan Anyone?

After an uneventful flight, the plane landed in Tokyo, Japan. As they left the airport, they were met by an extremely beautiful vixen. She had long brown tresses and strange purple eyes. She had the face of an angel, although she refused to admit it. She was wearing a black tank top over a purple cotton tank top with a black skirt. She was wearing black leather gloves and had her hands on her hips, always a bad sign.

"Late as always!" she exclaimed as the group approached her.

"Grace, this is Sly Cooper and Carmelita Fox. Sly , Carmelita, this is Grace," hurried Cedric as he quickly tried to make pleasant conversation before things got ugly.

"Hello, it's not everyday I get to meet two big shots like yourselves. Now Cedric, I believe we have some accounts to settle. Do you know how much a ticket from America costs these days? You owe me..." Grace named an astronomical figure and Cedric named a counter price. While they haggled, Hugo continued the introductions.

"Grace is one of our contacts and helps us out from time to time on our bigger jobs," said Hugo before dropping to a whisper. "Cedric's head over heels for her but don't mention it. I bet he'll go ten seconds before he agrees to whatever she says the price was,"

"How much?" challenged Sly.

"Twenty bucks?" suggested Hugo.

"Deal" agreed Sly.

"One, two, three, four, five.." they began to count. On five, Cedric agreed to Grace's current price and handed over the cash. Hugo glowered and paid Sly the money he'd lost.

"Sorry about that. Grace is going to be helping us a bit. She's got all of us access to the conference that Bentley and Penelope will be at. Grace, Carmelita, Sly, and myself will go as 'honored guests,' Hugo will be above us on lookout duty. In the meantime, she's arranged for a few rooms at the hotel the entire conference is at."

Sly cut in, "I should probably do some recon. once we get there."

"This should be pretty easy, we just go in, talk to Bentley and Penelope and get out. There really shouldn't be any need for reconnaissance," objected Grace as she called a taxi.

When they got to the hotel, they found that Grace had booked them three rooms, one with two beds and two with only one. When Cedric realized this he suggested that they try to swap on of the rooms but they found that the hotel was full.

"Well I'm not sharing. A girl needs her sleep after all," said Grace as she picked one of the rooms for herself. Cedric and Hugo exchanged one glance and nodded. Practically flying across the hall, they took the room with two beds and locked the door, leaving Carmelita and Sly to share a room.

Cedric pulled out his cell phone and called Grace.

"You planned this didn't you," asked Cedric.

"Of course, you know me," she answered and hang up.

Meanwhile across the hall, Carmelita was threatening for the umpteenth time to shoot Sly if he got any 'funny ideas.' Sly, also for the umpteenth time, was reminding Carmelita that he was a gentleman and would do no such thing. They eventually came to an agreement; ly would sleep on one side of the bed and Carmelita on the other. Luckily the bed was a king-size so there was more than enough room. That night the whole gang slept soundly, not knowing that some of the other 'guests' weren't science experts at all. In fact, several of them were from the Yakusa, the Japanese mob.


	8. Kidnapped!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **EXCEPT FLAMES**. Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have any characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). Thank you.

Kidnapped!

The next day, the gang had left for the conference where Bentley and Penelope were supposed to be. Cedric, Grace, Sly, and Carmelita were all dressed in their finest and had the guest passes Grace had gotten for them.

"Okay, remember, we're just here to talk to Bentley. We're not here to sightsee. You only need to look like you're interested in the exhibits," reminded Cedric.

"I don't think we're gonna have a problem, the only one who might go crazy in a science exhibit is Bentley," laughed Sly.

After about a half-hour's worth of searching, they eventually found Bentley and Penelope giving a speech about their own new invention, some sort of solar-powered engine which would cut down on gasoline usage. The gang decided to leave them alone until after the awards ceremony; it looked like they were busy enough at the moment. Later, at the awards ceremony, Bentley and Penelope were awarded a prize for the most environment-friendly invention. After the ceremony, they left the hall to wait for Bentley.

However, after waiting for about a half-hour, neither Bentley nor Penelope had come out. Cedric poked his head around the door to see if they were still there and saw Bentley talking with a coyote. The coyote said something and Cedric saw Bentley reach for one of his bombs. The coyote laughed and walked out of the room. Right at that moment, Sly and the others entered and surprised Bentley.

"Hey Bentley, long time no see,' said Sly as Bentley's jaw dropped a few feet.

"Sly? What are you doing here? And who are these people and...Carmelita?" Exclaimed Bentley as the group entered.

"It's okay Bent. She's not going to arrest us, not now at least."

"But what...? Why...? What are you doing here?"

"Truthfully, we need your help. Apparently, someone's got it in for Carmelita and myself."

"Unfortunately Sly, I think I'm the one that needs your help."

"With what? You and Penelope seem to be doing great. I saw your invention. Its fantastic!"

"Unfortunately, you're not the only one who thought so. You know of the Yakusa, right?"

"The Japanese version of the mob?" asked Carmelita.

"Yes. It seems they were so impressed by my invention, they decided they would like me to work for them. And apparently, they didn't want me to say no."

"What do you mean?" asked Sly.

"They took Penelope!"


	9. You Don’t Want to Know

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **just be polite!** Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have **any** characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). Thank you.

You Don't Want to Know

"They kidnaped Penelope? So that you would work for them?" asked Sly appalled.

"Did you get a good look at the guy you were just talking to?" demanded Carmelita.

"You can't track him down and arrest him. You are undercover, remember?" said Hugo arrogantly.

"Even if you could, it doesn't matter. Ten to one, I know where she is. The yakuza are mainly divided into peddlers, gamblers, and gangsters. They are divided into about 2,500 'families' and are actually pretty easy to spot. Their hangouts are clearly marked and the gangsters wear clothes similar to the American mobster zoot suit from decades ago. The only family I know that would be interested in you Bentley would be Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza gang. Currently, they are led by Susumu Kajiyama. I can guess they'd either hide her in one of their warehouses or..."stated Cedric before he stopped abruptly.

"Or what?" asked Carmelita suspiciously.

Grace slammed her fist into the nearest wall, leaving a dent about a big a Bentley's helmet. "If I ever get my hands on one of those yakuza, I'm gonna make them wish they'd never been born!" she exclaimed, hatred clearly visible in her eyes before she stalked out the door.

"Who and what was that?" asked Bentley.

"She is Grace, and that was her getting really pissed," answered Hugo.

"Which reminds me, we haven't been introduced," said Cedric, "I'm Cedric, my jaguar friend is named Hugo and you've already met Carmelita. Hugo and I are the Headhunters," rattled off Cedric.

"You're _the_ Headhunters? I've heard of you. Your Interpol rap sheet is almost as long as ours," said Bentley, "It's good to meet you, pity it wasn't under better circumstances."

"What do you mean 'their Interpol rap sheet?' How would you know about Interpol records?" demanded Carmelita forcefully.

"Let's just say that Interpol _really _needs a new anti-hacking system," answered Bentley smiling.

"Anyway, we should go back to the hotel and set up a hideout. I know about three warehouses nearby where they would probably keep her. Otherwise...," continued Cedric, "Well, we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, Sly, Bentley, Carmelita, I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do on the way back to the hotel."

On the way, Sly and Bentley told each other about what they'd been doing since the Cooper Vault collapsed. Then. Carmelita explained why she was helping out and hadn't arrested them all back in Paris. Once they got back, Bentley helped set up shop and installed the systems they would need to rescue Penelope. Once done, he and Cedric discussed the best way to find Penelope. Bentley eventually gave Cedric and Hugo copies of his binocucom.

"Since there's three warehouses we need to look at, I'll take one, Hugo'll take another, and Sly can take the third," said Cedric.

"And I'm just supposed to sit here?" asked Carmelita.

"You can do whatever you want, the choice is entirely yours,"mocked Hugo as he left the room.

"I'll go with Sly," offered Carmelita as she left with Sly.

"Hey Cedric," started Bentley.

"Yeah?"

"If she's not at the warehouse, where do you think she is?"

"You really don't want to know," said Cedric as he left the room.


	10. The Hunt

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **just be polite!** Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have **any** characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). Thank you.

The Hunt

Hugo ran to the first warehouse across the rooftops of the city. When he got there he turned on his binocucom and began to search the area for any signs of Penelope. _This is such a drag,_ he thought,_ Why do I have to look for some girl? A mouse with glasses and blond hair? This whole day is a drag._ After a half-hour's search, Hugo had found nothing and phoned in that Penelope wasn't at his warehouse.

Cedric hadn't been having much luck either. He had explored the warehouse top to bottom and had found nothing.

"She's not here either, let's hope Sly finds her," he said.

Meanwhile, Sly was getting used to being back in the thieving business. Performing some of his moves had gotten much more difficult. He had been forced to knock out several guards as he went through the warehouse until he finally found what he had been looking for. Penelope was in a locked room working on something that looked similar to one of Bentley's grapple-cams.Sly turned on his binocucom's transmitter.

"Hey Bent, I found her," said Sly.

Two huge sighs of relief came from the transceiver. One of them was Bentley's and the other sounded like Cedric's.

"Is she okay?" asked Bentley.

"She looks like she's working," answered Sly.

"Working? Sly, I put one of my grapple cams in your pouch. Slide it under the door and see if she can get it.

Sly pulled out the cam and slid it under the door to her cell before banging on the door just loudly enough for her to hear.

Penelope looked around, saw the cam on the floor, and dashed to it.

"Bentley, Bentley is that you?"

"Penelope? Oh thank God, you're okay."

"Me? I'm fine. They told me that they had you captive and I had to help them so that you wouldn't be hurt."

"Sounds like the two of you were conned," laughed Hugo.

"Who was that?" asked Penelope who had never heard Hugo before.

"He's been helping us. He and his friend are the Headhunters," responded Bentley.

"The Headhunters! Now, there's a couple of high-rollers," she said impressed.

"Anyway, they're not probably going to let you go now that they have you there. We'll have to get you out before they decide I've been 'uncooperative,'" said Bentley, "This could be tough. Sly?"

"Yeah Bentley?" answered Sly.

"Come on back, we need to plan a strategy for getting Penelope out."

"I hear ya. Want me to take some photos?"

"Yes, try to get some of the boss Kajiyama. We need evidence if we plan to get this creep behind bars," interrupted Cedric

"Why are the rest of you so angry with the Yakuza?" asked Sly, "Grace practically went berserk over them."

"The Yakuza have several money-making ventures. One of these is pleasurable company. That's why I was worried what we would have to do if she wasn't at on of the warehouses."

Sly had to work hard to control his anger. He had teased Carmelita, but he was a gentleman and was furious at the behavior of these criminal-wannabe's. Fighting to control himself, he took several pictures of the hideout, a couple of Kajiyama, and left. Sly thought _You threaten my friend, kidnap another friend, and now you do this too? These guys are going down!_


	11. “Thieves are Born, not Made”

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix. Kajiyama is the name of a real leader of the yakuza and as such, I take no credit for him.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **just be polite!** Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have **any** characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). Thank you.

"Thieves are Born, not Made"

When Sly got back to the safe house, Cedric was typing furiously on a laptop. Looking to see what he was doing, Sly bent closer to the screen.

"It's all the information we have on Kajiyama. Bentley's trying to hack his computer now as we speak and get some more info."

"What do you mean trying?" asked Bentley, "I finished a few minutes ago. Kajiyama's hideout is well guarded by his yakuza guards. However, there are several air vents that would allow access to his base. Thanks to the grapplecam Sly slipped Penelope, I know the approximate times of the rounds done by the local guards. This place is a fortress, inside and out. Unfortunately, Kajiyama somehow figured out the had a break in and beefed up his security. Also, it seems Kajiyama has had contact with Wainwright."

"This is what we were coming to Japan for, besides getting Bentley and Penelope back on the team. No one knows where Wainwright is except for his top contacts who each have a portion of the location. Also, Kajiyama should point us towards the next contact of Wainwright's," cut in Cedric.

"Exactly. Kajiyama has a special laptop I haven't been able to hack into. Mainly, we're trying to get this so that we can find the next target, while saving Penelope. Cedric, Hugo, and Sly will each enter through a different air vent. Hugo has offered to create a distraction while Sly finds Penelope and Cedric finds the laptop."

"I never had you figured for the distraction type Hugo," said Sly.

"It sounded like the most fun of all the jobs," Hugo shrugged.

"And I'm just going to stay here?" asked Carmelita.

"Unless you'd like to help," answered Cedric.

"This Kajiyama is part of a crime syndicate, participates in illegal activities and kidnaped

one of Sly's friends, Of course I want to help take him down," she answered curtly.

"Fine. You're with Sly," decided Cedric, "We still have a few hours before the heist, so Sly could teach you some of the basics into thievery."

"Would you do that Sly?" asked Carmelita.

"It would be my pleasure," answered Sly smiling.

"Fine," said Bentley, "Just be sure to have the basics down before we enter the base."

Sly and Carmelita went into their room to practice. First, Sly moved the bed farther into the room. Then he had Carmelita crawl quietly under the bed, practicing until she could get from one side to the other without making a sound. Then, by "borrowing" a rope, he taught her the basics of climbing up. Then he tied the rope between two immoveable objects and asked her to go across it.

"You have to be kidding me," she said. _That rope is too thin I'll fall right off._

Sly nimbly jumped up and landed on top of the rope and began to run across the rope back and forth. He jumped into the air and landed on it again. The he jumped off and landed on the floor next to Carmelita. _Oh my god! How can he do that? _thought Carmelita. She was suddenly struck by the idea that he could often had escaped her by simply by running across a rope like this.

"It's actually not that hard," said Sly, "All you have to do is find your center of balance and remain balanced while running. Also, when you stop, grab onto the rope to improve your balance. You can use the same technique when running across pipes and telephone wires."

After several tries, Carmelita had only managed to stay on for about a minute and fell off every time she moved. Desperate, Sly thought of the one thing that might help her. Reaching into his pouch, he thought _Please let this be the right thing to do._

"Carmelita, stop. Come here, I have something that might help you," he said apprehensively.

"What Ringtail?" asked Carmelita crossly. She was annoyed that she couldn't do the rail walk. She had always been very good at sports and used to always be the best in her class. She couldn't understand why she couldn't do the move but Sly could.

Sly handed Carmelita the Thievius Racoonus.

"This might help," said Sly after he turned to the page about the rail walk, "Try it. It can't hurt to try reading it."

Carmelita read the page and felt like the real method of the rail walk was being downloaded into her head. Every word she read gave her more uses and techniques for using this one move. The page described how one should focus solely on the rope and walk on it as though on a flat surface. It described how to keep one's balance while running across. Carmelita jumped up onto the rope and, holding the book in one hand, she crossed the rope twice. Speeding up, she ran across the rope then tried some jumps off and onto the rope. Throughout all this, Sly was watching Carmelita in amazement. She had mastered the rail walk. She wasn't as goos as he was, but he'd had a lot of practice. He remembered something his father told him once.

"A thief is born, not made," came his father's voice back to him.


	12. An Unlikely Partnership

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix. Kajiyama is the name of a real leader of the yakuza and as such, I take no credit for him.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **just be polite!** Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have **any** characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). The top two characters will be used and I will keep no claim to the characters. Unfortunately, only two people have entered so far. Please send any characters you created and like in. Thank you.

An Unlikely Partnership

After Carmelita finished mastering the rail walk, Sly showed her how to do the ninja spire jump and the basics of breaking and entering.

"You see, it doesn't matter how many guards they have on the ground or other doors, because there's almost always a roof entrance which normally isn't watched. If it is watched or there isn't one, simply find a way to blend in and slip in through the front," Sly said.

"That's how you got into Dimitri's mansion back in Monaco and Rajan's ball in India," realized Carmelita.

"Yup, Dimitri's pad had an open skylight and Rajan's party just didn't have a guest list. Anyone in a tux could slip right in," answered Sly as he grinned.

"So most thieves rely on most people's tendency not to look up in order to make off with their items."

"Sometimes. After this is over I'll show you how I got into your office and Interpol's Paris headquarters."

"Hey love birds," came a voice filled with derision, "It's time to go."

"And, one of these days, I'm going to take that kid's head and split it down the middle," growled Carmelita.

"Easy there, calm down," said Sly, trying to pacify Carmelita. "Oh and," he added in a whisper, "when you do, I'll hold his arms while you very gracefully strangle him, beautiful."

"Flatterer," accused Carmelita as they went out into the main room.

"Now that we're all here, Bentley, if you would," said Cedric.

Bentley stepped forward with a deep red version of his binocucom. "Despite my better judgement and the fact that there was no point arguing, I made a binocucom for Carmelita. However, I want to make it clear that I still don't trust her. And when we all wake up to find we're in jail, I hope you remember that I warned you," finished Bentley.

Carmelita was a bit shocked that Bentley would be so antagonistic towards her. Then she remembered that she had chased both him and Sly many times and it was only natural that he wouldn't trust someone he'd worked against before. "I understand why you think I would betray you and I hope that one day I can prove you wrong."

"For Sly's sake, I hope so too," mumbled Bentley.

"So, now that we have the formal unpleasantries out of the way, may we please get started?" asked Hugo dramatically.

"Sly and Carmelita, you two are going to go after Penelope and get her out. Hugo will provide a temporary distraction while Bentley and I enter and hack Kajiyama's computers. If we're all ready, lets' go," said Cedric.

"You weren't going to forget me now were you?" asked a voice from the corridor.

Grace walked into the room as though she'd just gone out for a night time stroll. Her black tank top had a few cuts and she had a nasty looking bruise coming in on her left cheek. Cedric guessed she'd gotten into another fight again. _At least she's worked off some of her anger, I hope,_ he thought desperately.

"If you're coming, you should probably help Hugo with the distraction," answered Cedric, looking like he'd prefer to be doing the distraction himself.

"If I must," groaned Grace.

"And Grace..." started Cedric.

"Yes, what?"

"How many did you hurt and how badly?" asked Cedric apprehensively.

"Only five. Those Yakuza dogs had it coming. And for your second question, they'll be able to walk, I think I only broke a few bones."

Cedric groaned. "Fine. It's time to start the op. If everyone's ready, let's go get these thugs."

As they walked out the door, Cedric and Grace shared a look. Besides rescuing Penelope, they had two other goals that evening. Find the next of Wainwright's lapdogs, and then collect a seriously extravagant bounty.


	13. The Rescue

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix. Kajiyama is the name of a real leader of the yakuza and as such, I take no credit for him.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **just be polite!** Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have **any** characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). The top two characters will be used and I will keep no claim to the characters. Unfortunately, only three people have entered so far. Please send any characters you created and like in. Thank you.

The Rescue

That night, if any of the people in the street had looked up at the rooftops, they would have seen six shapes darting from rooftop to rooftop. When Cedric, Hugo, Grace, Sly, and Carmelita reached the warehouse, they were all out of breath.

"Can everyone read me?" asked Bentley over the binocucom.

"Check," answered everyone at once.

"We better get started,' said Cedric, "We all have our own jobs, let's meet back here once we're done."

Each group took off in different directions.

Sly, Carmelita, and Bentley went to the left side of the building and found the door there locked shut. Sly and Carmelita shared a look, then both began climbing nearby poles to the top. They then dropped into the warehouse through a skylight and let Bentley in. Carmelita couldn't help feeling a sense that she was doing what she had stopped others from doing her whole life. That is until she saw some of the huge crates that the workers were loading onto a ship nearby.

"Cedric, what is in those crates?" she asked over the binocucom.

"The yakuza provide most of the 'pleasure' services in many countries. There are people in those crates. Mainly women," he said with disgust.

"Why doesn't the government stop them?" she asked.

"Two reasons. First, they get paid not to notice the 'shipments.' Secondly, the yakuza actually are providing some of the economic boost by doing things like this. The government has tried to stop them before, but they are always stopped by the higher-ups who benefit from the yakuza."

"You're telling me the cops here do nothing! Those low-lifes give cops a bad name."

"Yes, but this is why there are people like Cooper and myself. We stop these guys when the cops can't or won't."

Pondering this, Carmelita decided that the break-in was in some ways like entering a known criminal's house. _Just doing my duty,_ she thought.

The three of the had gotten to the elevator which Sly had gone down earlier. They got on and quietly began to descend. Suddenly, the elevator stopped, shuddered, then began to fall faster and faster. Too late, Carmelita realized that the elevator had probably been updated since Sly's entrance and that if they didn't get out of there soon, they would all meet a very uncomfortable end.

Meanwhile, Cedric, Grace, and Hugo had gone through one of the air shafts to get to the lower levels. Grace and Hugo went off to cause the diversion while Cedric left the two to find Kajiyama's hangout. Grace and Hugo knocked out a few guards and stole their keys. Then, they entered the security center.

"Cedric said he wanted a diversion. What do you think we should do first?" asked Grace.

"First, what happens when all the guard barracks lock themselves," said Hugo as he typed commands into the computer, "Then the heat for all the personal rooms drops 30 degrees Celsius. Finally, what if the sprinkler system turns itself on and all the TVs get child's shows for a few hours?"

"Pure chaos," answered Grace smiling. Hugo might not be the kindest or most polite of people, but he had style. _Cedric better be okay, _she thought.

"I'm gonna go help Cedric, can you hold out here?" she asked.

"He's not gonna need you're help. I got control here. The guards should be stuck for a few hours. I'll call on the binocucom if anything happens," he answered.

Grace left, sprinting to catch up with Cedric.

At that moment, Cedric had just entered Kajiyama's office. He hacked Kajiyama's personal computer and downloaded all of the incriminating information onto a disc before looking for files concerning the next of Wainwright's lackeys.

"I assume you're Cedric. Or should I call you The Dragon?" came a voice filled with contempt from behind Cedric.

Cedric whirled to face a man in the doorway with a katana in his hands. The man was shorter than Cedric but was much broader in the shoulders. He looked like the type of person who'd break your kneecaps for the mob. His close-cropped black hair had a few gray hairs in it and he was wearing what looked like a mobster's outfit from the type of Al Capone.

"Who's asking?" challenged Cedric, knowing full well the answer.

"Kajiyama. Who else?"


	14. Bring it on

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix. Kajiyama is the name of a real leader of the yakuza and as such, I take no credit for him.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate ****any and all suggestions**, **just be polite!** Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have **any** characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). The top two characters will be used and I will keep no claim to the characters. Thanks to those who have sent in characters. Unfortunately, only four people have entered so far. If you don't want everyone else to see your character, you can PM me. Please send any characters you created and like in. Thank you.

Bring It On

Cedric stood up and pulled out his sword from behind his back. Holding out in front of him he asked, "Where is Wainwright?"

"You think I know?" asked Kajiyama mockingly.

"You know part of the answer," answered Cedric.

"I know a riddle and a number. That is all," laughed Kajiyama.

"Tell me and you'll save us both some trouble."

"No, I would save YOU trouble. I would end up 'missing' or worse. You know better than anyone what Wainwright is capable of."

"Yes, and that's why I have to stop him," stated Cedric.

"Why? He may be a bit unscrupulous, but his goals are noble. And he treats those who work for him well. The world he will create will not be so bad once the people adapt to it."

"Do you really think that? His vision of the world will be a desolate and lifeless place."

"His world will be filled with order. There will be no more lies and deceit. Warriors will walk the world again and the cowardly soldiers of today will go back to serving the courageous, as they once did. Honor and strength will once again be revered, not hated. A new generation of samurai will be reborn."

"Lies told to make you follow him. In his world, there would be no reason for your samurai to exist. There would be no fighting and no wars, just order."

"We shall see. In the meantime, your friends are walking to their deaths."

"Leave them out of this."

"I can not. They trespassed. The turtle refused to serve us as is his duty. The raccoon and the fox were going to steal our new scientist."

Cedric reached for his binocucom and quickly said, "Hugo, find the others they're in trouble. I'll take care of Kajiyama."

"Your friend will be too late."

"He's never failed in his life."

"You have too much faith in your friends."

"Maybe, but at least I have people I can trust and don't have to look over my shoulders for assassins every five seconds."

"Let us see which of us is right in the honorable way. A duel to the death."

"I'll duel you and win, but no one will die here tonight."

"We shall see," answered Kajiyama.

Cedric charged Kajiyama raised his own blade. The two clashed.

Meanwhile, Hugo had heard Cedric and was quickly looking for Sly and the others. Finding the elevator they were in, he tried to stop it but failed completely.

Inside the elevator, Carmelita whisked out her shock pistol and fired it at the roof of the elevator. A hole in the small hatch in the top appeared. Sly, seeing what Carmelita was doing, knocked the hatch the rest of the way off. He grabbed Bentley and shoved him up through thr hatch. Then, he and Carmelita jumped out the hatch. Standing on top of the car was even more dangerous than just being inside it. The cable which held the car was unwinding rapidly as they fell faster and faster.

"Great, now we're just going to be smashed a few feet above the elevator," said Bentley.

Carmelita knew exactly what she was doing. Grabbing Sly's arm she said, "When we get close to the bottom, we jump and climb the cable."

"And Bentley can use his hover jets to stay out of the explosion and land safely," realized Sly.

"Only problem is that my jets aren't powerful enough to hold me in the air that long," said Bentley, panicking.

"I'll grab you after your last booster gives out and we'll paradrop down. Carmelita can climb down after us."

"On three then," said Carmelita, "One, two, three," and they jumped.


	15. Escape!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw in to the mix. Kajiyama is the name of a real leader of the yakuza and as such, I take no credit for him.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **just be polite!** Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have **any** characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). The top two characters will be used as the creator sees fit and I will keep no claim to the characters. Thanks to those who have sent in characters. Unfortunately, only four people have entered so far. If you don't want everyone else to see your character, you can PM me. Please send any characters you created and like in. Thank you.

Escape!

On three, Sly, Carmelita, and Bentley jumped. Carmelita began to climb the rope quickly, putting all her newfound skills to the test. Sly too jumped and began to climb. Bentley waited until he reach ed the top of his jump to begin using his boosters. He used the first two boosters, then the third, then all three, slowing his fall. The booster lasted about half a minute until it began to sputter. Sly then grabbed Bentley and opened his paraglider, slowly falling, gaining distance from the elevator. As the two were falling, Carmelita noticed an open ventilation shaft. Cutting through one of the elevator cables, she swung down, kicking Sly and Bentley into the shaft before swinging in herself.

"Nice move, but could you tell us next time?" groaned Sly, his muffled due to having his face smashed against the wall of the shaft by Bentley's wheelchair.

"No time ringtail. Let's get going," said Carmelita, feeling adrenaline surge through her. _Is this how Sly always feels during a heist? _she thought. _I can see why he likes this so much._

Carefully, they pushed Bentley's wheelchair through the shaft, difficult due to the chair's size. Bentley, hunched over, almost cracked his skull on the ceiling several times. Finally, they got to the end, where Sly knocked the grate out with his cane. Crawling out, they found themselves in the hall that Sly had found which led to Penelope's cell. Running, they quickly came to Penelope's cell. There, they found the door had been locked with a cycle-lock. Carmelita immediately pulled out her pistol and was about to shoot the lock off when Sly stopped her. Reaching forward, he turned the lock rght until he felt a vibration, then left, then right again. The lock popped and the door opened.

"It just takes a gentle touch," Sly said to Carmelita's amazed face.

The three of them burst in too see a startled Penelope.

"It's about time you got here Bentley," she said, her voice betraying her annoyed words.

"Sorry, someone rigged an elevator to kill us," said Bentley, "Sly and Carmelita got us out though."

"Sly and CARMELITA? Isn't she the one who as trying to cart Sly off to jail?"

"Yeah, but she's helping us for now. Look, I know someone who can explain the whole thing later, but right now, we need to get out of here."

"Alright," said Penelope as Bentley handed over Penelope's binocucom.

Outside, Sly spoke into his binocucom.

"We have Penelope, what about the others?" he asked.

"I took care of the guards and Grace is going to help Cedric. By the way, you should probably get up here quick," said Hugo.

"Why?"

"Ever seen a Texas cage match or some other kind of TV fight?"

"A few."

"Like 'em?"

"Some, why?"

"Cause If the TV monitors are right, you're about to see the best one-on-one fight you've ever seen! Cedric vs. Kajiyama! If you want to help out, better get up here."

"We're coming," said Sly.

Right then, Penelope and Bentley walked out into the hall.

"Alright, it's time to go. We need to go up FAST," said Sly

"The elevator's out though," Carmelita pointed out.

"What's wrong with stairs?" asked Sly pointing to a staircase to their left.

Above them, Grace ran full-out trying to catch up to Cedric, in order to stop him from doing something he would most definitely regret.


	16. The Dragon and the Samurai

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, and any other OCs I throw into the mix. Kajiyama is the name of a real leader of the yakuza and as such, I take no credit for him.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **just be polite!** Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have **any** characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). The top two characters will be used as the creator sees fit and I will keep no claim to the characters. Thanks to those who have sent in characters. Unfortunately, only four people have entered so far. If you don't want everyone else to see your character, you can PM me. Please send any characters you created and like in. Thank you.

The Dragon and the Samurai

After about five minutes of hard running, Grace finally came to Kajiyama's office. Inside, Cedric and Kajiyama had both drawn their swords and were preparing to fight. Kajiyama's blade was an unusually long black katana, while Cedric held a longsword with a fire-red blade at his side.

"I'll duel you and win, but no one will die here tonight," said Cedric, almost mournfully.

"We shall see," responded Kajiyama mockingly.

The two raised their blades and practically flew at each other. Both of them were very skilled, but Cedric was a master. He expertly dodged and blocked, keeping Kajiyama from landing a solid blow. Within seconds, Kajiyama knew he was horribly outmatched. Luckily for him, he had noticed a girl standing at the door watching the battle. Quickly, he drew a gun from within his shirt and aimed it at the girl's head.

"I'm afraid that you lose Dragon," he laughed, "One step and this pretty girl dies. Come here wench."

Grace looked at Cedric for a few minutes until he nodded, signaling for her to follow Kajiyama's commands. She walked over to where Kajiyama stood and stopped just out of his reach.

"Not bad, for a vixen," hissed Kajiyama, the lizard apparently pleased with his own brilliance. "Now Dragon, you are going to put down your sword and I am going to kill you. Then, this little beauty is going to be one of our next exports."

At this Grace bristled and went into a combative position.

Seeing this, Kajiyama raised his sword at Cedric. "Don't move wench or he dies. I will have to force that strong personality out of you. I should be quite fun," he hissed, his tongue slipping out to taste the air around her.

Grace grabbed his tongue and pulled, HARD. Kajiyama gagged and said something that was garbled but was obviously a threat. Grace growled but let go.

"You'll pay for that one bitch,"swore Kajiyama angrily.

He slammed her with his tail and sent her flying into the wall. He then walked over, keeping his gun on Cedric, and pulled his arm back as if to hit her. Within seconds, Cedric had practically flown forward and grabbed Kajiyama's hand. Cedric hurled Kajiyama across the room in one swift movement.

"How dare you. How dare you attack Grace you bastard!" yelled Cedric.

Around him, the air seemed to resonate with anger. Cedric's blue eyes slowly began to change color to shade of red not far from blood. His teeth sharpened and his claws lengthened. Cedric grasped his sword in both hands and fire began swirling around his blade.

Lowering the sword to his side, he yelled, "You called me 'Dragon.' Wouldn't you like to see how I got the name, you pathetic little man? I'll show you the power of a dragon!"

Raising his sword to eyes level, he slashed at Kajiyama, sending a huge crescent of fire at the Japanese mobster. The fire hit Kajiyama and the room seemed to explode. Kajiyama was left lying against the wall, half-dead.

Cedric turned and sheathed his sword. Picking up Grace's unconscious body in his arms, he walked toward the door.

As he exited the room, Sly and the others showed up. Immediately, they knew something was wrong. Sly reached forward to see if Grace was okay. Cedric growled and Sly backed up quickly. Sly was startled. This mostly gentle wolf now seemed to be a savage beast. His eyes had changed form blue to red and he seemed like he would kill whoever got in his way without exception. Not only that, but Grace was hurt badly. She had what looked like a nasty head wound which was bleeding badly. Looking into the room, Sly saw Kajiyama slumped against the wall, out cold.

Cedric lay Grace's body on the floor and placed his had on her head. Mumbling a few words, a red light surrounded him. Saying one more word, the aura flew from his form to his hand and into Grace. The light focused on her wounds and slowly, the wounds began to shrink. Soon, Grace was completely unscathed. Cedric's eyes then turned back to blue, his teeth and claws shortening, as he fell to the ground unconscious.


	17. Bloodlines

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, Grace and any other OCs I throw into the mix. Kajiyama is the name of a real leader of the yakuza and as such, I take no credit for him.

Author's note: Thank you for all your great reviews, as this is my first fic, **I appreciate any and all suggestions**, **just be polite!** Also, the character contest is still going on so, if you have **any** characters you have made, please send them in (anthropomorphs only though (no humans)). The top two characters will be used as the creator sees fit and I will keep no claim to the characters. Thanks to those who have sent in characters. Unfortunately, only four people have entered so far. If you don't want everyone else to see your character, you can PM me. Please send any characters you created and like in. Thank you.

P.S. For those who read this, this chapter is a special extra-long one for the loyal readers.

Bloodlines

When Cedric woke up he saw he was back in the hotel that they had used as a command post. Throughout the room, the others, except for Hugo, watched him closely.

Sitting up, Cedric asked "Which truck ran me over?"

"You're out of shape Cedric. Used to be you could do what you did last night and only be a little out of breath," said Hugo.

"I didn't know I would ever need to do that again. But, yes, it has been to long," agreed Cedric.

"Personally," cut in Sly, "I'm sure I speak for all of us when I think you owe us an explanation."

"True enough," said Cedric, "What happened last night was a metaphysical overload across the interspatial continuum, causing a massive overload in the psychotropic explosion of the nearby temporospatial claudications." Staring at Sly's and Carmelita's blank faces, he knew they hadn't understood any of this. Strangely, Bentley and Penelope looked as if they had understood completely.

"So the extradimensional focus caused an internal release of the psychotropic energy?" asked Bentley.

"Yeah, you know the theory?" said Cedric amazed. Very few people these days understood psychotropic or claudical theory. However, the fact that these two understood would make it easier to explain to Sly and Carmelita.

"Could you simplify that please?" asked Carmelita annoyed. She did not like it when people talked about things that she couldn't even follow.

"In a nutshell," said Bentley, "He experienced an overload of magical energy due to his fury and the buildup of magic over the years."

"Magic! Then you're like Mz. Ruby, a Voodoo master, or the Guru, a Dreamtime master?"asked Sly.

"There are many kinds of magic. Briefly, there are the four elemental magics, Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind, and then there is Dark magic and Light magic. Dreamtime is a form of Light while Voodoo is a form of Dark. I am a master of Fire magic and have some skill with Light magic," answered Cedric

"So what you did last night was just an overload of magic?" asked Carmelita.

"Embarrassingly, yes. I haven't used my magic in a while so I ended up using way to much when I called for just a little."

"Just wondering, but isn't magic a reflection of the soul of the wielder?" asked Carmelita, remembering the other magic wielders he had met before. "I mean, each time I've met someone with magic, their abilities seem to suit them completely. I mean, the Guru uses Light and Mz. Ruby used Dark and the Guru helped out Sly and Mz. Ruby tried to kill all of us. So, doesn't magic affect the person's inclination towards good or evil?"

"That kind of thinking is what caused the Crusades," grumbled Hugo, "I use dark magic and you don't see me murdering innocents."

"What he means is that what you just said Carmelita, is a common misconception that is unfortunately still held by most religious followings except Hinduism and Buddhism. Christianity, Judaism, and many others are all led by Light users. Islam used to have equal groups, Light and Dark users as their leaders, until the crusades wiped out their last master of Dark magic. With no one to teach it, they lost its' use. Most priests and religious leaders these days are masters of Light magic. The Catholic Pope is one of them, as are many bishops and cardinals."

"But then aren't light magic users mostly good people?" inquired Carmelita. This hole night had been one of surprises, from her using techniques from the Thievius Raccoonus, to Cedric's healing Grace and blasting Kajiyama.

"You know of Saddam Hussain and Osama Bin Laden right?" asked Cedric.

"Of course. Everyone in all law enforcement agencies knows about them."

"Both are proficient Light magic users," laughed Hugo, "The reason they haven't found Bin Laden yet is he keeps using his magic to evade the people looking for him."

"That's impossible. No records..." Carmelita started.

"No records mention the Pope as a Light user. No records say the two of us use magic. No records say that most of what is written off as suicide attacks in Jerusalem are actually magicians blowing themselves up with magic," Hugo cut her off.

"But they've found evidence of bombs and other explosives," objected Carmelita. That the pope could use magic was one thing, but this was ridiculous.

"It's amazing what a good coverup team can do isn't it?" asked Hugo looking at Cedric. "In truth," he said to Carmelita, "Most non-magicians don't notice magic or explain it as things like gas explosions or avalanches. The rest is coverup done by the government. Remember how Bush said he attacked Iraq 'cause they had weans of mass destruction?"

"Yes. They still haven't found the nuclear warheads. Most people think he made them up."

"These days, 'weapons of mass destruction' and 'nuclear warheads' are used instead of the word 'magicians.' Can you see Bush standing up and telling the U.S. that they attacked Iraq because they had better magicians? They'd lock him up which, on second thought, might not be so bad. Any way, most people don't want to see or understand magic, so the fools don't. It actually makes it much easier for people like us," said Hugo almost pityingly.

"Then how do people get magical abilities?" asked Carmelita.

"Maybe you should ask your boyfriend," mocked Hugo.

Carmelita turned to face Sly who shrugged. He apparently didn't understand Hugo either.

"What Hugo means," explained Cedric, "Is that most magicians gain their power through bloodlines. The 'purer' the bloodline, the more power. Most royal families gained power thanks to their abilities. Most magicians these days are descended, though distantly, from these royal houses. The greater ones are the ones whose bloodlines are the most 'pure.' This happens just like how Sly gained the techniques of his ancestors. It's hereditary."

"If so, how did you become powerful enough to have that much magic?" asked Sly.

"Easy, I'm descended form both royal houses in Austria. My great-grandparents were from the different two houses. My power is the combination of the two houses' powers, both Light and Fire.


	18. A New Adventure

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, Grace and any other OCs I throw into the mix.

Author's note: Hey guys (and girls), thanks for sending in the characters, but it's about time the contest ended. Next weekend the next chapter is going to be written so you should please send in your characters by then. I need to know who wins to decide what's coming next. Until then, enjoy this new chapter and if I screwed up anywhere, please tell me. Thank you and please send in the characters. Tell your friends, your familly, your mortal enemies, and any magic-users in your hometown. Thank you.

A New Adventure

"You're descended from royalty? Wouldn't Interpol have records of this? Until you met us in Paris, I had never heard your name before," asked Carmelita incredulously.

"That's not surprising. There are three main ways to avoid being arrested these days. You can use a fake name or identity, like ours: The Headhunters. Or, if you're in quieter business, you can simply not let most people know what you do and make sure the police have no info on you. That one's the hardest. Finally, like Sly, you can just be _very_ good at avoiding cops, which takes a lot of skill. And about the royalty thing, it's not that uncommon. Sly is descended from the Egyptian pharaohs. His ancestor Slytencamun II was the pharaoh's cousin and eventually ended up stealing from him in order to help out the poor in Egypt," answered Cedric.

Sly was surprised. Not many people knew about his family history besides the gang. Cedric apparently noticed Sly's confusion and almost laughed.

"Not many people know this, even among criminals, but there is a kind of family tree which lists all of the old royal families and their descendants. Sly's on it, along with Hugo and myself," Cedric explained.

"I'm from the Brazilian royalty," chipped in Hugo.

"The main reason for this tree is that it is used by many magic-users to find who is in the same 'league' as themselves. It's pretty foolish, but many of the old families insist on 'maintaining the family line' and that kind of crap," said Cedric disgusted.

Cedric looked around and saw that someone wasn't there.

"Where's Grace?" he asked. She should have still been there. He had healed her, but she might still have wounds from when Kajiyama had thrown her.

"She volunteered to lead the cops to Kajiyama's hideout," answered Bentley.

"All right," said Cedric disappointed. "Anyway, I think introductions are in order," he said as he held his out to Penelope "I'm Cedric and my friend is Hugo. We're the Headhunters."

Penelope took his hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Penelope."

"Well if all of you are quite finished, I'm going to bed," yawned Hugo, "I've been up all night and if anyone wakes me before 8:00, they're gonna be really sorry." Hugo walked out of the room.

"Sorry about that," Cedric apologized, "Hugo can be a bit rude, but he has a point. It is quite late." He got up stiffly and walked across the hall to his room.

That night, Bentley and Sly reminisced while Penelope and Carmelita made their peace with each other. It helped that Carmelita had never shot at Penelope while on a caper and, unlike Bentley, she had never had to deal with Carmelita's twitchy trigger finger.

The next morning, Sly and Carmelita found Cedric sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room they had used for a command center. An aura of red light surrounded him and pulsed as he breathed slowly. In front of him was a large bowl of water. Suddenly, he inhaled, and then exhaled a huge ball of flame into the bowl, turning the water to steam. Opening his eyes, he noticed the two watching him.

"Good morning," he said cheerily.

"Morning," grumbled Carmelita. She had always had a hard time getting up in the morning and had only woken up because Sly had told her he'd show her another trick from the Thievius Raccoonus. "What were you doing?"

"Practicing. It's been a while since I worked with my magic so I'm pretty out of shape," he answered.

"How does magic work?" asked Sly. He'd met many magic users, fought some and helped some, but had never understood how they did what they did.

"You know how most people only use about a third or less of their brain?"

"Yeah. Bentley once said that if someone could use then other two thirds, it would be amazing what they would be able to do."

"He's not far off. Magic comes by using part of the brain most people don't use. It's mainly a trait you're born with. I know a few people who managed to unlock it through harsh training, but there aren't many of them. By concentrating on what you want to happen, you use the part of your brain which releases magic. The more you use it, the easier it gets. Despite most biologists' classifications, the brain's like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes. Have either of you seen Grace yet?"

"No, I haven't seen her since last night," said Sly.

"Maybe she's still blessedly asleep, lucky girl," growled Carmelita.

"I'm going to go get you some coffee from the dining room," volunteered Sly, "You want a double mint cappuccino right?"

"You know very well that a hate mint you obnoxiously cheery raccoon," Carmelita almost yelled.

"So you want it with triple mint?" asked Sly, as he ducked out the door.

"Sly! Get back here!" Carmelita almost yelled.

"Who was murdered?" asked Penelope as she staggered in from the room she and Bentley shared.

"Sly's just threatening to get Carmelita a mint cappuccino," Cedric stammered, trying hard not to laugh.

A few minutes later, Sly came back with a latte with cream and no mint for Carmelita, and his own favorite, a decaf espresso. Carmelita thanked him grudgingly and began drinking the coffee. Feeling much better, she asked Cedric where they were going next.

"I feel we've all deserved a vacation. Sly can teach you a few more tricks and everyone can relax. Turns out, Murray is in a snowboarding competition up at Whistler. Anyone up for a few weeks of R&R at one of the most famous ski resorts in the world?"


	19. An Assignment

_**(This disclaimer applies for the rest of the story) Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any other character from the Sly Cooper games. The only characters I own are Cedric, Hugo, Grace and any other OCs that I create and throw into the mix.**_

Author's note: The character contest is officially over. Thank you to those who sent in characters. The winners of the contest are (drum roll please): Kitty Petro (from Captein Amelia) and Angelina DeSanto (from Aqua Princess of Avalone). Thank you to everyone and the new chars will be entering the story at separate times starting with Kitty, right now. Thank you again everyone for your support and please don't fail to correct me if I screw up. Thank you.

An Assignment

In Paris, Chief Inspector Robert Barkley looked out his fifth-story office window and groaned. It had been a week since Inspector Fox and her partner Constable Cooper had disappeared. Barkley couldn't help but wonder if Cooper had returned to his thieving ways and had kidnaped Ms. Fox. Or, even worse, if he had convinced her to join his gang of misfit thieves. _Curse that raccoon, _thought Barkley.

He had previously gotten a lot of pressure from his superiors due to Fox's inability to hold on to Cooper for more than five minutes. Since Fox had taken a squad of mercenaries to some pacific island and then come back with a strangely obedient Cooper, he had gotten more and more uneasy. Fox had explained how Cooper had lost his memories and Barkley had agreed that it seemed pointless to charge someone with a crime they couldn't remember committing. So he had allowed her to have Cooper as her partner. The two of them had solved an amazing number of cases together. One week ago however, the two had disappeared right at the same time as a notable downtown Parisian restaurant reported hearing gunshots.

Barkley's men had investigated and found a few unconscious men with sniper rifles. They had been booked but refused to say anything under interrogation. However, one of them had told him that Fox's and Cooper's days were numbered and that it didn't matter if they failed, someone else would succeed. The man's cryptic comment had worried Barkley but the fact that Inspector Fox had not contacted him since then worried him even more. Fox was a stickler for the rules and would have always contacted him as soon as possible. Therefore, either she had no way of contacting him, she was compromised, or she had left Interpol completely. Barkley prayed it was the first, for her sake and his own. Deep in thought, he didn't hear the door open and was unaware of the woman's presence until she spoke.

"You wanted to see me?" asked a pretty vixen who had entered the room.

Barkley turned and saw Inspector Kitty Petro. The 20-year old vixen was an odd duck at the office. She was attractive and thus gained the attention of many of the men there, but her tomboyish attitude quickly caused many to give her up as a lost cause. She was blond with sapphire eyes and a large amount of freckles across her nose. She was a newer recruit and had worked alongside Fox and Cooper on more than one occasion.

"Yes," answered Barkley, "You of course know of Inspector Fox's disappearance?"

"Uh huh," said Kitty anxiously. She had gained Carmelita's respect on one of their cases and had become friends with both her and her beau, Constable Cooper. When the two had vanished, Kitty had known something was very wrong.

"To get to the point, I want you to find her and Cooper. We've heard reports of one of Coopers old calling cards showing up in a Yakuza hideout in Japan and we fear he may have returned to his old thieving ways."

"NO way. You know as well as I do that Carmelita would never help a thief," said Kitty shocked. She knew Carmelita well and had never met someone whose views were so plainly black and white. She would never be part of any crime, from thievery to jaywalking.

"She may not have helped him. That's why I'm sending you. You know them better than anyone else and should be able to track them down. Find out what's going on and if you find out that Cooper has returned to being a thief, arrest him and Fox if need be. Dismissed. Don't let me down," said Barkley.

Kitty walked out of the office confused. Arrest Carmelita? Impossible, at least for her. At least, she decided, it was an excuse to find out what the two of them were up to and help them if they needed it.

Meanwhile, in Japan, the gang was getting ready to board their flight to Vancouver, Canada. From there, they were going to rent a car and drive to Whistler. Today, Cedric was dressed as the standard 17-year old teenager. He was wearing black cargo pants and a long-sleeved crimson t-shirt with his I-Pod head phones on. Grace and Hugo were also able to go in regular clothes thanks to the fact that they weren't easily recognizable.

Sly had dressed in a punk outfit he had found with a purple t-shirt and green vest. He had spiked his hair and was wearing leather gloves and tinted glasses. Carmelita had changed into a standard tourist's outfit with khaki shorts and a white blouse and sunglasses. She had also put on a blond wig for the trip. Bentley and Penelope were both dressed as college professors with Bentley wearing a fake beard a tweed jacket, and holding a pipe (empty of course, Bentley knew better than to smoke).

Bentley was using his laptop to connect to Thiefnet and order their usual gadgets. Cedric was talking on his cell phone.

"Who'd you call?" asked Grace.

"Julie. She's going to meet us in Whistler. She's got us a cabin up there as our hideout and will be waiting for us at the airport with a car.

Grace gulped.

"Julie's not _driving_ is she?" asked Grace tentatively, "Oh please tell me she's not driving."

"Why?" asked Carmelita, who had been listening to the conversation, "She can't be that bad a driver can she?"

"Carmelita," started Grace, "The last time Julie drove a car, we had to run from the cops before we even committed a crime."

"Why? What happened?"

"Let's just say the American cops don't like it when you park your car on _top_ of their cruiser."


	20. The Newest Member

Author's note: Hello again everyone. Owing to cruel, sadistic teachers who give finals and homework, I am currently only able to write over the weekend mostly. Therefore, I try to get as much done as possible. Just to get you hyped up, I will tell you that before the Whistler section is over, there will be a new pairing (so there will be Sly/Carm, Bent/Penel, and ?) in the gang. To cause suspense, I will not tell you who is in the pairing, hahahahahhahahahaha. You will just have to read in order to find out. Also, I have started a new forum for all lovers of Sly Cooper. Ciao!

The Newest Member

When the gang landed in Vancouver, they all proceeded to the airport. Grabbing their stuff from baggage check, they went out in to the nearly sub-zero weather. Outside, they waited for the person Cedric had called, Julie, to pick them up.

Waiting in the freezing cold, Sly wondered if and when Cedric's friend would show up. Suddenly, three cars cam rocketing around the corner, just under the speed limit. The cars pulled to a screeching halt right in front of the group. The first car was a deep purple Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, the second was a black Lexus GS 450h, and the third was a blue Toyota Sequoia. Cedric ran forward and began examining the Lexus inch by inch.

"You did leave the auto-drive on right?" Cedric asked looking at the driver of the Lancer through the window, "and you didn't do anything reckless getting here right?"

The driver of the Lancer stepped out and shook her head. She was a lynx, and a very pretty one too. She had long, highlighted, strawberry-blond hair and a figure most women would kill for.

"Don't go crazy, I didn't touch your baby," she reassured Cedric nonchalantly, "I simply turned on the follow function and drove the Lancer, calm down."

"Sorry," said Cedric , "It's just that I put too much effort into this car for you to total it like the last one."

"Hey, that tree had never been on that road when I drove there before," the lynx objected, "It was an honest mistake."

The lynx girl stepped forward and put out her hand towards Sly.

"I'm sorry we haven't been introduced. I'm Julie Summers," she said, taking in the extremely handsome raccoon she was looking at.

"Sly Cooper," said Sly politely, taking her hand and kissing it.

Carmelita glared at Julie and began to step forward as if to yank Sly back. Sly however, let go of Julie's hand and introduced the others.

"This is the brains of our gang, Bentley," he said pointing to each person as he did, "this is Penelope, his girlfriend, and this gorgeous beauty is Carmelita."

Carmelita calmed down as Sly slid over next to her and reached one arm behind her back and began rubbing her shoulders. Carmelita shivered slightly as Sly's rubbing relaxed her.

Julie cursed under her breath when she learned that the hunk of a raccoon was spoken for. Annoyed she walked towards the Lancer, but Grace jumped into the drivers seat right before she did.

"Hey! What was that for?" she asked.

"I like _my _car in one piece, thank you very much. I think I'll drive her home. You can pick which car to ride in," Grace said, smiling.

Sly and Carmelita jumped into Cedric's Lexus, and were shocked when they saw the inside of his car. He had altered the car's inside so much that it was almost unrecognizable.

"You like? I tricked her out during one of my off days. She's got a surround sound system, satellite TV, DVD player, wireless Ether-net, satellite video feed, and there are TV screens on the back of the front seats while the driver and the passenger seats have fold-down screens on the roof. The car has an auto pilot and, if necessary, there is an automated defense system. I figured if we were going to have a vacation, we might as well get there in style," said Cedric proudly.

While Sly and Carmelita were stunned by the interior, Hugo slipped into the passenger seat. Julie, grumbling, had gotten into the passenger seat of the Lancer, while Penelope and Bentley got into the back seat. Grace insisted they leave the Sequoia on auto pilot or else Julie would want to drive it.

Sly and Carmelita got into the back of Cedric's Lexus and they took off, radio blasting as they traveled quickly to their cabin, right on the slope of Whistler.

Once they go to the cabin, they spent a few hours preparing it for anything they might have to do. Then, Cedric drove the whole group down to Whistler Village to get their gear.

Cedric already had a pair of Rossignol Z-7s, and Hugo had his own custom board, but none of the others had their own gear. Sly had gone skiing before, as had the others, but he had never gotten his own gear. Once there, Sly, Carmelita, Grace, and Penelope each found their own pair of skis, while Julie got a snowboard. Bentley spoke with the assistant and after a few minutes, they had put together a pair of skis that could be controlled from the handset on Bentley's wheelchair. They picked up the rest of their gear and charged onto the slopes.

Grace offered to help Sly, Carmelita, and Penelope warm up and get Bentley used to his wheel chair. Cedric, Julie, and Hugo took the gondola up to the top and went down the black diamond run Ratfink to warm up, before taking the Harmony Express up to Little Whistler Peak.

"You guys ready to shred?" asked Julie anxiously.

Cedric and Hugo looked at each other, then charged forward and leapt off, diving into Glacier Bowl (black diamond). Julie grumbled about them leaving her behind, then jumped off after them. Taking the Peak chair to Whistler Peak, they took a series of double and single black diamond runs down the mountain until they reached the bottom. Meeting up with Sly and the others, they went off to find Murray.


	21. Danger on The Slope

Author's note: Sorry about the huge wait. For all time: FINALS SUCK! I was forbidden from using the computer for fun until after finals. Oh yeah, Parents suck too. For those I have kept in suspense, the new pairing will be shown next fic. The pairing is...well, you'll just have to wait and find out.

Danger on The Slope

After everyone met back in the main lodge, they checked the roster for the FIS World Cup. It was rumored that a pink hippo had signed up under the name "The Murray." It turned out that "The Murray"'s first race had just started.

Rushing to the race lines, they came just in time to see a large hippo come crashing around the turn, well ahead of the rest of the group. Suddenly, Murray lost control of his board and began to turn towards a nearby tree. Switching into his aboriginal ball from, he bounced safely away from the tree while his board smashed into a million pieces. Standing up, he shook his head and walked over to look at the wreckage of his now useless board.

"Hey Murray," yelled Sly at the top of his voice.

Murray turned around and his jaw dropped.

"Sl..Sly? But I thought..." he started.

"What? That I had forgotten you? Yeah right. Who could forget 'The Murray'?" asked Sly laughing.

"But I couldn't find you after the island fell apart," said Murray confused.

"How about we discuss this back at the lodge, it is very cold out here," said Bentley.

After they got back to the lodge, Bentley, Sly and Murray caught up while Julie and Hugo talked about which runs they were going to take tomorrow.

After a while, everybody went off to bed to dream of how they were going to spend the last day of their New Year's eve weekend vacation.

The next day, the whole group was ready to go at the crack and took the first gondola up to the top and got ready to take the hardest run on the mountain: The Couloir.

"You sure this is safe?" asked Grace, a little uneasy about the steep drop off.

"I've done it a million times before, and I'm still here aren't I?" scoffed Hugo, "Let's go!"

Pushing off the cliff, the whole group started down the mountain.

"Geronimo!" yelled Julie as she pushed off.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack. Looking up, Cedric saw about ten tons of snow falling down the mountain and gaining speed.

"You just had to yell didn't you?" asked Cedric as he tried to speed up and outrace the avalanche.

The tons of snow fell down the mountain at alarming speed, going faster and faster. The only sound Cedric could hear over the grinding of the snow was the pounding of his own heart. This was one of the most dangerous possible accidents that could happen on any mountain. If they didn't out race the snow, they would be buried alive, with next to no chance of rescue.

Suddenly, Julie, an expert boarder, slipped and fell out of her bindings. By the time she could strap herself back in and move, it would be too late. Cedric knew he had only seconds before the avalanche reached them. Stopping he yelled, "Everyone, get next to me. Hugo, take the left, I go the right. Focusing, he envisioned himself, but looked through his body into his heart. Summoning his power, he closed his eyes. When he opened them, they had turned red. Like before, he had gone through an alarming transformation. His claws had grown and his canines had lengthened until he could have passed as a vampire. Cedric snarled in anger and raised his hands as fire poured out of them. The fire spread creating a shield around the right half of the group. Hugo also sent out a shield, except his was pure black. The Snow struck the shield, but Cedric and Hugo kept it off the group. The instant the snow hit Cedric's shield, it evaporated while Hugo kept moving it along around his shield. For what seemed like an eternity, they held the avalanche at bay. Finally, the avalanche stopped as quickly as it had started. Cedric dropped backwards onto his back while Hugo grabbed his knees to keep himself from falling.

"Nice shield Hugo, you've improved a lot," panted Cedric.

"Not too bad yourself," gasped Hugo. Their use of magic had drained them of a lot of strength.

Slowly, they rest off the group helped them down the mountain and back to the lodge.


	22. What the Heck?

Author's note: Sorry again about another huge wait. My parents dragged me out to go camping in the middle of nowhere. Most people get to spend their summers going to beaches and traveling, I got to go get eaten alive by bugs and bored out of my freaking mind. Sorry about the gripe, but I'm still pissed about being away from my computer for so long.

What the Heck?

When the gang got back from the slopes, they all went back to their respective rooms to change into some dry clothes after being almost being crushed by a mountain of snow. Cedric finished changing and then went downstairs to go look for something to eat. He was chatting with Hugo when suddenly Grace came bounding into the room and looked at Cedric expectantly. Grace came over with a look on her face that made Cedric uneasy.

"You look like you're having fun," she said.

"After nearly getting killed, most people usually like to relax," commented Cedric warily. He knew from Grace's expression that she was about to do something mischievous, something that invariably drove him crazy.

"Just make sure you're ready to go by eight," said Grace.

"To go? Where?" asked Cedric knowing that he really did not want to know the answer.

"Don't tell me you forgot!" exclaimed Grace.

"Forgot what?" asked Cedric confused.

"You promised to take me to the New Year's Eve party down at Whistler village," she said almost disbelievingly.

"I did?"

"Yes you did and you better be ready by eight," she said as she walked out of the room.

"But...But...," stammered Cedric as she left. Confused he looked at Hugo.

"I never asked her out," said Cedric confused.

Sly, Carmelita, Penelope, Bentley, and Julie all burst in from the next room over laughing their heads off. Carmelita was laughing so hard she was almost crying. Hugo soon joined in.

"Now that I've amused everyone, could someone please tell me what's going on?" grumbled Cedric peevishly. Sly walked over to Cedric, still laughing.

"Cedric, allow me to introduce you to a bizarre but interesting species called women. They may drive you crazy, they may confuse you completely, but believe me, they're well worth the effort."

"I still don't get it," said Cedric.

Hugo finally took pity on him and said "Cedric, we both know that Grace is, well, somewhat proud, right."

"Yeah."

"Can you see Grace asking anyone out on a date by walking up and asking if they would like to get some coffee or something?"

"No, not really."

"Then let's just say she just asked you out without endangering her pride."

"She did?"

"Cedric," Carmelita stammered, still laughing, "You may be a great fighter and mage, but you apparently know next to nothing about women."

"Hey...," he started then stopped, "you may have a point there."

"Don't worry," started Sly, "You have to world's foremost expert on the feminine mindto help you."

"And an actual woman to make sure you don't make a complete fool of yourself by doing _everything_ Sly tells you."

A few hours later, Cedric, dressed nicely for the party, waited downstairs for Grace to be ready. Suddenly, a figure began to come down the stairs into the hall. Cedric's jaw nearly dropped. He had no idea who this beautiful vixen was. Her light brown hair, fell beautifully across her shoulders, her purple eyes looked both shy and mischievous, and she was wearing a strapless red dress which hugged her curvaceous form. The eyes and the hair looked like Grace's but the Grace Cedric knew would have _never_ worn a dress like that. Grace reached the end of the stairs and looked up at Cedric.

"So, how do I look?" she asked playfully.

Cedric's mouth worked, but no sound came out.

"Beautiful," he finally said.

Grace smiled and Cedric could almost feel his ears turn red.

He walked to the door trying to remember all the things that Sly and Carmelita had taught him.

"After you," he said he said with an almost cocky grin which he hoped concealed the fact that he thought he could hear his heart thumping.

_This is ridiculous _he thought_. It's just Grace, there is no reason for me to be panicking like this. I've fought mob bosses, drug lords and madmen without batting an eye and _Grace _scares me? I've got to control this absurd emotion._

He opened the passenger door to his Lexus and closed it after Grace got in. Fighting to control his absurd fear , he opened the driver's side door, got in, and began the drive that would take them to the party.

Behind him, the others had all dressed up as well and jumped in the other cars to go. They were planning on watching Cedric bumble through one evening none of them would ever forget.


	23. Loss

Author's note: Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I posted. I got caught up in schoolwork, (I swear my teachers are trained torturers) and I am extremely sorry for not posting until now and I promise I will start posting at least once a week again.

Loss

It was around midnight when Grace and Cedric finally returned to the cabin. Grace had fallen asleep on the ride back, her head lolling onto Cedric's shoulder. Cedric was completely shocked. He had always seen Grace as being as tough as nails and as stubborn as a goat. Seeing her like this, Cedric couldn't help but wonder what she was really like. He carried her inside, taking care to be quiet so as to not wake her up. Gently, he carried her up to her room, laid her on the bed and pulled the blankets over her. Giving her one last kiss, he left the room.

"So did the two of you get hitched of something?" came a voice from behind Cedric.

Cedric spun around to find everyone on the landing behind him. Carmelita looked as if she was about to burst into laughter while Sly looked as though he had just stolen one of the most priceless jewels in the world.

"What do you mean?" asked Cedric uncomfortably.

"Well the two of you were out all night, so we assumed . . . " started Sly.

"Nah., Cedric isn't that brave. But hey, did the two of you get a room after we left?" asked Hugo.

"You obnoxious little . . . " started Cedric, making a wild sweep at Hugo.

"Easy, Hugo," Julie laughed, "don't insult his new girlfriend's honor."

Cedric breathed deeply, resisting the urge to start blasting fire on the whole lot of them.

After teasing him a bit more, everyone left to go downstairs again, except Sly.

"So how was it really?" Sly asked, suddenly serious.

"You were right," Cedric said, looking at the door to Grace's room, "They are definitely worth it, despite the fact that they drive you crazy."

"Good, now maybe Carmelita will stop pestering me about getting you two together."

"What?" asked Cedric, shocked.

"She has a good eye for emotions, other than her own. She's been telling me since we met Grace that the two of you should be together. Although now I think she'll bug me about Hugo and Julia," Sly grimaced.

"Those two will get together on a cold day in Hell," Cedric laughed. Hugo and Julie? Julie would attach herself to any man who stood still long enough and kept her entertained, but Hugo? He doesn't ever show any kind of emotion that isn't cold or cruel. His actions may speak differently, but. . . .

"You're probably right," Sly agreed, "I'll just have to put up with it."

"Hey Sly, was it the same when you and Carmelita . . . " Cedric trailed off.

Sly looked down, staring off into the past. "No, Carmelita liked shooting at me too much. By the time we could have a civilized conversation, I was locked up in a helicopter over Paris. At least, she thought I was locked up. By our first date, I wasn't supposed to remember who I was. Trust me, you got lucky the woman you fell in love with isn't trying to kill you or lock you up."

"Yeah . . . hey! What do you mean I 'fell in love with'? It was just one date!"

"That's how they all start," Sly laughed as he stood up to leave.

"What does that mean?"called Cedric after him.

That night, Cedric couldn't help think of anything but Grace. The way she'd danced with him, the way she'd looked at him, the way she'd kissed him. He could almost feel her in his arms again. _Was Sly right? Is this love? _

It was then that Cedric heard something thump downstairs. _Odd, _he thought, _Sly, Carmelita, or Hugo wouldn't have made any noise. Murray or the others would have made much more. _Suspicious, Cedric snuck out of his room, grabbing his sword on the way out. Closing his door silently, he snuck down the stairs, careful not to make a sound. It wasn't until he heard the click of an automated rifle that he realized what was going on.

Listening hard, he heard at least two upstairs, four downstairs, and five to ten outside. Carefully, Cedric slipped back upstairs, only to find Hugo looking at him from the darkness. Hugo nodded, showing that he too had heard the intruders. Pointing upstairs, Hugo indicated that he would deal with those two. Nodding his understanding, Cedric slipped into Sly and Carmelita's room. Quickly shaking Sly awake, Cedric indicated the need for silence.

"We're surrounded," Cedric whispered, hoping none of the intruders heard him.

"Police?" asked Sly, suddenly wide awake.

"Police don't sneak in," Cedric said. To himself, he thought, _And they don't carry automatic rifles and move around like assassins either._

Sly nodded and woke Carmelita while Cedric went into Grace's room and explained the situation. Grace and Cedric then snuck out onto the landing, meeting Sly and Carmelita. Pointing downstairs, Cedric led the group. Once they were downstairs, they split up. Sly and Carmelita went their separate ways, while Cedric and Grace continued to search together. Hearing a dull thump, Cedric knew that on of the others had taken out one of the attackers. Seeing one of the assassins, Cedric snuck up behind him, whacking him on the back of the head once he got close enough. The assassin fell to the ground, out cold. Slowly but efficiently, the group took out all of the assassins, one by one. It was almost dawn by the time they had finished, and they had thirteen assassins tied to the trees around the house.

Grace smiled as she tied up the last one. "That's it," she said, "When they wake up, they're going to tell me exactly what they were doing he . . . ," she stopped as a crack split the air. Eyes wide, Grace fell forward to the ground. Instinctively, Cedric lashed out at the attacker who had fired, blasting his face with fire. Turning to Grace, he saw blood seep out of the hole the bullet had caused. Holding her, he pressed his hand to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Hold on Grace. We'll get Bentley. Sly!" he shouted, "Grace's hurt, get Bentley!"

Grace looked up and murmured. Leaning closer to hear, Cedric heard her speak. Her voice was faint, as if she was very far away.

"Sorry...let my guard down."

"No, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention!"

"No . . . not your fault . . . Cedric," she coughed, "I'm sorry."

It was as if the world was on fire.


	24. Found

Author's note: Well, time to bring in the two contest winners again. Kitty returns and Angelina makes her debut.

Found

Sly heard the gunshot but didn't understand what had happened until he Cedric yelled.Carmelita rushed to get Bentley while Sly went to help Grace. Sly arrived just in time to see Grace murmur something to Cedric before passing out. As Grace passed out, Cedric screamed; the scream of a man who had just lost the most important thing in his life. Suddenly, fire blasted out of Cedric, going out in all directions. The scream became louder and filled with anguish as the light surrounding Cedric and Grace grew stronger and stronger. Covering his face with his hands, Sly narrowly avoided being blinded by the light. Finally, everything exploded. The light blasted into the sky, burning a streak into the morning air. When Sly looked, all that was left was Grace lying on the snow, unconscious.

On her flight to Vancouver, Kitty saw the explosion, the blast arcing into the sky. _What the ... Oh, this really sucks_ _big time_. Just then the captain broke in saying something about being slightly delayed due to unexpected weather patterns. _Yeah, like anyone's going to buy that. I hope Carmelita wasn't anywhere near when whatever that was went off._

In Miami, a white bengal tigress snuck into the upstairs window of an apartment building. Sliding the glass window open soundlessly, she started robbing the place clean. It's not as if she condoned hurting others, but if she didn't get something good, the kids might go hungry again. She'd been skipping quite a few meals herself, and was starting to feel the effect of days without food. At least today promised to be a good catch. The guy who lived here was loaded.

The tigress slid inside and shook her head, whipping her light blond hair around. Her bangs framed beautiful blue eyes with gorgeous long lashes. She was dressed in somewhat beat-up jeans and t-shirt, which had both seen better days. The lower part of her face was covered in a mask, hiding full lips and a stubborn chin. Even her name, Angelina, expressed beauty. She would have been called beautiful, if everyone didn't know that she would have likely murdered anyone who hit on her.

Picking her way across the room, she found the items worth the most value that could be easily sold, slipping them into a rucksack across her back. She was about to disable the security to the rest of the apartment when the explosion happened. Something crashed into the street below, sending shocks all the way up the apartment. Swearing, she got out of there before the owner could wake up. Sliding down the drain pipe along the building, she gracefully landed on the ground below.

Looking around for the cause of the explosion, she found a crater in the middle of the parking lot, the wreckage of cars strewn around the outside, torn apart by the explosion. Pulling off her mask, she stalked over to the crater, to see what had crashed. In the bottom of the crater she found a young wolf, dressed in charred, smoking rags, with not a scratch on him. Her ear began to twitch, as it always did when her curiosity kicked in. _Just leave it Angel, it's not your problem. _Her ear kept twitching, despite her attempts to control her curiosity. _Come on, get a grip. There's no need to get involved with this weirdo. Remember the saying: 'Curiosity killed the cat.' _It was only after she'd carried the wolf to the group van when she remembered the other half of the saying: 'And satisfaction brought it back.'

When the wolf woke up, he found himself surrounded by children. Three of them were peeking over the side of the bed, four more were hiding around the room. Sitting up, he found it impossible to stay upright, and fell back to the bed. Trying to speak, he managed to croak "water" before lapsing into a fit of coughs. One of the children, came forward with a pot filled with water. Taking it from the child, the wolf drank, soothing his parched throat. Hands came together, prying the bowl away from him. Looking at who had taken the water, the wolf saw a white tiger staring down at him , perplexed.

"No drowning yourself. I still want to know what happened to you," she said, half smiling.

"Who," the wolf coughed, "Who are you?"

"Name's Angelina. Call me Angel. Yours?"

"I'm...I'm...I'm not sure," he said, trying to remember. It was as if he had never had one, but that couldn't be right.

"Not surprising. You crashing into the ground hard enough to leave a crater. I'm amazed you aren't dead."

"Where am I?" he asked.

"At the hideout," she responded matter-of-factly.

"That helps," he grumbled sarcastically. Now that his throat hurt less, he was becoming more aware of the pain in his head.

"You're in Miami. That's in Florida," she answered, as if he didn't know anything.

"Why am I in Miami?" he asked, confused.

"How should I know?" she answered, irritated for some reason, "All I know is that you crashed into the ground by the building I was in and then I figured you might need some help. Don't you remember anything?"

"Up until I just woke up, no" the wolf answered rubbing his head. He'd crashed? Was that even possible?

"Well, fat lot of good that does me," Angel griped, still irritated by the fact that the wolf couldn't tell her what happened and satisfy her curiosity, "Look get some rest, you can leave in the morning."

Back in Whistler, Bentley had returned from the makeshift operating room. Pulling off his gloves, he walked over to one of the chairs and collapsed into it.

"How is she?" asked Sly.

"Penelope is keeping her stabilized," Bentley sighed, "It's a miracle, the bullet missed her heart by just enough to keep her alive. It bounced off a rib and ricocheted out her side. An inch lower and it would have pierced an artery. What I'm concerned about is Cedric. What happened? We all saw the explosion, but besides that."

"Don't ask me. Grace passed out and he started glowing," Sly answered.

"Hmm, It could be that Grace's apparent death caused such an incredible amount of emotional trauma that his magical powers reacted by releasing all his power at once, causing the explosion," Bentley mused.

"That's about right," Hugo commented. He hadn't said anything since the shooting, just standing buy the site, and then the makeshift operating room up until Bentley came out, "Cedric never could completely control his temper, that idiot."

"They're not talking," Carmelita said, coming back from interrogating the assassins, "Whoever hired them is either extremely respected, or feared. How's Grace?"

"She's stable. The next few hours will tell if she'll make a full recovery or if we'll need to do more for her," Penelope said as she came out of the operating room.

"Anyway, what happened to Cedric? It looked as though he flew up in that light," Sly asked, puzzled. He had seen the light himself; one minute, Cedric had been there, the next he was gone.

"He was the light," Julie chipped in, "Cedric once showed me how he could focus his power on himself and basically boost himself physically."

"Only this time, he blasted himself off to who knows where," complained Hugo, "Is there any way to find out where he went? One of us should go tell him Grace will be fine."

Noticing everyone was looking at him, Bentley sighed.

"I'll get right on it."


	25. Memories of the Past

Author's note: Sorry for the wait, I had midterms I had to get ready for. Now that they're over, I'll try to post at least once a week.

Memories of the Past

Everything was stained red. Cedric felt as if the world had ended. Someone screamed and fire erupted behind his eyes.

Cedric woke up, finding himself covered in cold sweat. _Another dream, _he thought, _but why are they always the same? _Looking around, it took him a few moments to remember where he was. Looking around, he remembered that Angelina had let him stay with her and the children since she found him in the crater. The second day after he'd woken up, she'd told him that if he was going to stay there, he had to earn his keep. Finding that he was a decent driver, Angelina set him up as her getaway driver after she robbed a house.

Angelina walked in just then, already dressed. "Another dream?" she asked.

Cedric nodded mutely. He just couldn't seem to be able to speak. Every time he had another of those dreams he would feel this unexplainable sense of loss. _What did I lose? Was that my past? That . . . explosion?_

Angelina, taking pity on him, went over and sat on the bed beside him. "It's okay. You'll remember eventually," she said, guessing correctly that Cedric's silence meant he was trying to remember. "The dreams will pass and the best way to get rid of them, is to work until you drop," she swapped to a more cheerful tone, "Speaking of work, time to get ready. You have five minutes before we go."

As Angelina left him to his thoughts, he tried to remember anything, anything, about his past. All he could remember was a face, a vixen with long black hair.

Hundreds of miles away, Grace had just woken up after the surgery.

"Good to see you're awake, said Penelope, smiling for the first time in days.

"Wha.. What happened?" Grace slurred sleepily.

"We missed a sniper. He shot you when we thought we'd gotten all of them. You got lucky, he missed one of your arteries by a hair."

"Where's Cedric? Can I see him?" Grace asked.

"Now might not be the best time," Said Penelope, hoping to put off the inevitable.

"Why? He doesn't blame himself does he?" Grace struggled to sit up.

Penelope gently pushed her back down, "No, he's . . . well, he's missing."

"What?"

"He . . . exploded after you got shot. He disappeared, but Bentley and Hugo are trying to track him down," she added at the end to keep Grace from getting up again.

"They have to find him. They have to . . ." Grace trailed off. "Tell Hugo that if he doesn't find Cedric soon, I'll kill him."

Back in Florida, Cedric and Angelina were about to break into the house Angelina had chosen as their target.

"Who owns this place?" Cedric asked, amazed. There was security everywhere.

"Some lord or other. He's probably got this as his summer home. He must be psycho or something," Angel said as she ducked a laser that swept over head, " I mean, this isn't the nicest town, but this place is a fortress.

The two of them snuck through the place, Angelina flipping and bouncing off the walls to avoid the lasers as Cedric ducked them one at a time, timing his moves so that he could get through. Finally, they got to a door with no lock. Angel spent five minutes feeling around the door for some sort of secret switch, but there didn't seem to be one. Finally, she gave up.

"You mean we came all this way, dodging lasers, for nothing?" Cedric fumed. Angrily, he punched the wall to his left. To their combined surprise, a panel in the wall slid away to reveal a hand print reader. Curious, Cedric placed his hand on the reader. Seconds later, the door opened.

"What the . . ." began Angel, but stopped as Cedric went in the room, "Wait, there could be more security,."

"There aren't," he said instinctively.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I just know," he said, not sure himself.

The room they were in was large, comfortable rather than extravagant, and looked more like a middle class suburban home than a walled house filled with security. On the wall opposite them, there was a large picture of four people in front of the house they were in. Entranced, Cedric walked forward until he could see the painting better in the dim light. The painting was of a black jaguar, a lynx, a wolf and . . . a vixen. Not just _a_ vixen, but the vixen in his memories. _Grace, _he thought. Tearing his eyes away from Grace he looked back at the wolf. The wolf was obviously male, with silver hair that fell into his eyes and a red-bladed sword. He was maybe 15 in the picture and if you accounted for a couple years . . . .

Coming over to see what he was looking at, Angel saw the wolf in the painting. In took her seconds to see the resemblance between him and Cedric.

"No way, you look just like the wolf in the photo," she said disbeleiving.

"No. I _am_ the wolf in the picture," Cedric said, finally remembering, "And the reason the door opened, is that this is _my_ house."

"What? This is your . . . ." Angel stopped suddenly, frightened. Making a break for the door, She found that it suddenly was blocked by a wall of fire.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to have you arrested. Sit down, I have a proposition for you."

Wary, Angel slumped into the sofa. _It's all over, _she thought,_ he's going to be like any other rich jerk and have me arrested for breaking and entering, even if he did help._

Cedric's next words almost put her into shock. "How would you like to work with me?"

"What? Work ... with you? Doing what?" she said shocked.

"Well, for starters, you can bring the orphans you're taking care of up here, it's much safer than your place. Secondly, I'm going to leave you in charge of this place while I'm gone. One of my friend should show up soon, now that I opened the house. I'll leave a note so he knows what you're doing here and he'll tell you what we do for a living."

"Why would you do this? I mean, I broke into your house to steal from you," she objected, confused.

"First, your need is greater than mine. Those children need a place to stay. Second, you helped me. I owe you this at least."

"Alright, but where are you going?"

Declining to answer the question, Cedric turned to a computer in the corner of the room. "I'll put your hand print in so that you can get around the house. Just press your hand here to put it in."

"You didn't answer my question,"

"Sorry, maybe my friend will ask you to go with him when he comes after me, which he inevitably will. In the meantime, I have . . . someone I need to meet."

With that Cedric left, seeking the man who had killed the woman he loved, planning to make him pay.


	26. Revenge

Revenge

The cloying heat of the jungle stuck the shirt to Cedric's back as he slipped silently through the trees. Looking around, he found a tall tree and leapt up to the top, landing at the top. Staring over the treetops, he what he was looking for.

Amidst the luscious green of the trees lay an area of clear-cut farmland, a scar against the forest's beauty. If Cedric had done his research right, this particular farm supplied marijuana one of Wainwright's businesses 'associates.' If he was lucky, he would find out where Wainwright was. If not, then he got the chance to make him bleed, at least financially.

Jumping from tree to tree, Cedric carefully approached the farm, on the lookout for any guards that might be looking up. Once he got to the farm, he slid down to the ground and snuck quietly onto the grounds. Hugging the shadows, he crept towards the main building, carefully watching for any guards that weren't drunk, as so many security tend to be.

Sneaking around to the main building, Cedric jumped a guard form behind, knocking him out cold. Deciding he'd had enough sneaking around for one night, he calmly walked up the steps and opened the door to the main house. Walking into the room, he walked over to a coffee machine at the back, ignoring the surprised sounds form the workers there. Pouring himself a cup, he turned around.

"Anyone know where your boss is? Wainwright's got a message for him," he asked nonchalantly.

Dumbfounded, one of the guards pointed vaguely down the hall to the left.

"Thanks," Cedric said as he walked off, "Oh and by the way, you might want to get out of here. Fast. This is going to get very messy."

Going down the hall, Cedric knocked at the door at the end of the hall. Standing there, waiting for the boss inside to answer, he wondered why heads of illegal operations always put their room to the back. It was very unoriginal. Finally, a mean-looking weasel poked his head around the corner of the door.

"Wha'da you want punk?" he slurred. Apparently, Cedric had disrupted his drinking.

"Just delivering a message from Wainwright," Cedric said, as if he had all the time in the world.For a weasel, the guy sobered up really fast.

"Wainwright? Then you're one of his. . . . Come in, come in," he said, suddenly switching to a much more polite tone, "So what does good ol' Wainwright want to tell me?"

"Actually, Wainwright didn't send me."

"Then who are you?" he asked, confused.

"I am an independent contractor who wishes to know the location of our mutual friend," I said, speaking perfect bureaucrat.

"Wha?" he asked dumbly.

Cedric sighed, resigned to the fact that few people understood the subtleties of negotiation. "Put simply," he explained, "I'm one of the Headhunters and I want to know where Wainwright is, or I will be very. . . disappointed."

"Oh yeah?" he said. He was either very brave, or very drunk, "I'm afraid, you're going to be very disappoint..." he was cut off as Cedric grabbed his shirt collar and lifted him off the ground.

"Let me put it more plainly. Wainwright killed a friend of mine and I am going to make him pay. Now, either you tell me where he is, or I start taking my frustration out on you."

"I...I don't know where he is," he gasped, "All I know is I send my shipments to a guy in L.A. called Sanchez. He sells the stuff I give to him. He might know where Wainwright is."

"Thanks," said Cedric, " oh and by the way, since you work for Wainwright, I'm going to make sure none of this stuff gets to L.A. Bye-bye."

On the way out, one of the guards tried to stop him, but Cedric just flipped him over his shoulder as he walked past. Once he was outside, the walked to the field where they grew the marijuana.

_ Didn't their mothers teach them not to smoke? _Cedric thought as he blasted the field with his power, setting the whole thing alight in seconds. _Well, at least this load won't make it to the US. We're going to have some really unhappy junkies,_ he thought as he walked away, back into the forest he had come from. Turning around, he doubled the heat of the fire in the field, burning all of the marijuana in seconds. _Nice and clean. None of the flames reached the trees either. _

Leaving, Cedric wondered if the people here would try to grow another crop. The way he'd burned the crop, the jungle should reclaim the ground in a few days if the don't keep it off. Turning, he walked away, back into the jungle, going to go back to the boat that had brought him here, planning to go find the next guy who might tell him where to find his old nemesis.


	27. Searching

Searching

The black sky poured as Hugo walked down the street towards the house he had once lived in. It had been one of the happiest moments of his life, although he would never admit it. Their Miami HQ had been a favorite of his, it was easy to hide in and he could easily avoid the others. Entering through the front gate, he disabled the security, not wanting to go through the trouble of slipping through security, and walked towards the main house.

The house still looked the same as it had when he had first seen it. Tall and slightly ominous, the house gave the impression of power, and a safe place to hide. As he entered however, he found it to be much different than when he had been here last.

As he opened the door, the sound of children playing came to his ears. Wading through the maelstrom of small bodies, constantly moving with some game or other, he worked his way towards the living room. There, given a wide birth by the children, sat a black and white tigress, her head in a book, looking almost bored.

"Who?" asked Hugo curtly. He wasn't pleased about anyone, especially children, running around his childhood home.

The tigress looked up form her book. As she saw Hugo, her eyes widened with sudden understanding.

"There's a letter for you," she said, pointing to an envelope sitting on one of the tables, "Cedric left it for you."

Opening the letter, Hugo read Cedric's precise handwriting.

_To Hugo,_

_Since you're the only one who might think I would come here, I figured you will be the one to find the chaos this house will likely be in. By the time you arrive, I will be long gone. You can guess where I'll be going_, _and I won't risk the safety of our operation by leaving the location in this letter._

_The tigress who should be here is called Angelina. She is an excellent thief, almost as good as our masked friend and almost as beautiful as_ _our favorite Interpol Investigator. I want you to train her, show her the ropes as you catch up to me. She shows promise. The children are orphans, leave them in the charge of one of the servants and I'm sure they will be fine. _

_I'm going to find _him_, and cut his traitorous head off when I do. Catch up soon, I could use a witness._

-_Cedric_

"You're Angelina?" asked Hugo, after reading the letter.

"Yes. Are you Cedric's 'friend?'" she answered warily.

"Yeah. Come on."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"He said you had promise. I'm here to show you the way."

"Uh-huh. And the children?"

"They'll be here when we get back."

"Alright then. Where to?"

"To pick up a few friends. He'll need them," Hugo muttered as he turned and left.

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_The problem with trying to get information is that for some reason, people just don't want to cooperate, no matter what you tell them, _Cedric thought as he dodged another spray of bullets. He had tracked Sanchez to the L.A. docks, where he had, quite politely, asked where he could find Wainwright. Well, on second thought, maybe his threatening the set the little weasel on fire hadn't been the best approach. Slicing another series of bullets with his sword, he waited for the fools to figure out that they couldn't hurt him.

"This teach you to try and mess with me," yelled Sanchez, as he hid behind his bodyguards, "Let's see how you deal with someone with real power!" Rubbing his hands together, the L.A. drug dealer began to recite some spell or other.

Cedric sighed. He hated hack wizards who thought they could control powers bigger than themselves, especially when they failed repeatedly. A flash of light and a sudden thud alerted him the spell's success. Coming out of his hiding place, Cedric turned to see Sanchez commanding a behemoth that looked somewhat like both of the bulldogs that had been the bodyguards. _Ah, an alchemist, _thought Cedric, annoyed, _but using his own men as material, he really must suck at this. _

The monster charged forward, all intelligence gone as a result of the transmutation. Walking forward, Cedric slashed the monster, severing the spell that held it together. Its magic gone, the behemoth turned to ash, and vanished in the wind.

"Okay, I asked nice. Now, you have five seconds to tell me where Wain is before I started slicing off limbs," Cedric snarled, angry at the sacrifice of the bodyguards.

Instead of answering, Sanchez began to draw alchemical symbols in the air, hoping that he could create another mindless slave to use.

"Wrong answer," growled Cedric as he ran forward, lifting the weasel off his feet and holding him off the pier. After all, everyone knows weasels can't swim.

"Alright," Sanchez smirked, "But you know it's pointless. You're nowhere near strong enough to fight him. He has powers you could not imagine."

"I can imagine, if he hasn't learned any new tricks by now. Look, I don't care what that bastard can do, tell me where he is or I'll throw you in!"

"He's at his family's mansion in Austria," gasped Sanchez, panicing, "As if it did you any good."

"Well, that makes it easy," Cedric said as he turned away. Remembering he still had the weasel by the collar, he chucked hi over his shoulder, into the bay.

"Help! Come on, I told you where he was! I'm drowning!"

"So? Isn't that what the coast guard is for?" asked Cedric before he walked away.


	28. The End?

The End?

_ The one good thing about my cousin, is that he's very predictable,_ thought Wainwright as he sat at his mountain retreat, lounging on a deck chair and sipping a cocktail. _You have one person killed and he loses his mind with grief. I'd give him another day or so before he shows up here and tries to take me on. _Leaning back, Wainwright closed his eyes, waiting for the telltale signs of his cousin's return.

_ The one good thing about my cousin, _thought Cedric, _is that he's easily predictable. _Walking up the uneven mountain road which wound its way through the Austrian hills, Cedric plowed steadily along, stopping for no one and nothing. Luckily, then hills were deserted this time of the year, which made it much easier for Cedric to do what he was about to do. Calling on his power, Cedric blasted fire out of his back, forming wings made purely of fire. Leaping up, Cedric took to the skies, revenge in his heart and tears in his eyes.

_ The one good thing about those two, _thought Hugo, _is that they're easily predictable. _The team had divided and rented three cars they'd found after coming out of the airport. Driving in silence the group brooded over what had happened over the last few weeks. Each person lost in their own thoughts. The memory of the first time they'd kissed coming unbidden to Grace's mind. Grace stared out the window watching the snowy landscape fly by, hoping that Cedric was still alive. Hugo sat in the back seat of the car he shared with Angelina, sharpening his sword with a wetstone, making sure he was ready for the fight that was about to begin.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" asked Angelina as she drove carefully on the long and winding road. Turning on his binocucom, Hugo called for confirmation that everyone could hear him before answering.

"Sly, his team and Angelina will get us in, Carmelita and Murray will shoot any grunts we find, and Grace and I will help Cedric kick Wain's ass."

"What kinds of security measures does Wainwright use?" Bentley asked, curious.

"Mostly magical until a few years ago. Someone with no magic at all broke in once and Wainwright added electronic security. The usual, pressure sensors, laser beams, automated heat-guided machine guns; plus the normal magical barriers. I'll kill the magic and Sly will have to get us around the normal stuff that Bentley can't hack into. Let's just hope that we get there before Cedric does."

"What's so bad about Cedric wailing on Wainwright?" wondered Angelina out loud. Hugo and Grace sighed, both remembering what could happen. "You tell them," Hugo snapped.

"Cedric and Wainwright are cousins. They're from the same family, and they have the same kinds of powers. The only problem is that if those two go all out and throw everything they have at each other, the resulting blast will made Hiroshima look small in comparison."

"That's impossible," objected Carmelita, " No human being has that kind of power."

"They do," Grace sighed, "They have it because they're the heirs to the royal lines of Austria. Cedric gave up his title over to Wainwright so that he wouldn't have to deal with the backstabbing and politics that came with it. Wainwright liked the power so much, he killed off everyone else in the family to make sure no one could depose him. He's been trying to kill Cedric for years, but could never catch up to him. I guess he decided this time to make Cedric come to him."

"Cedric should calm down when he sees Grace and then you can get out of there," said Hugo.

"And Wainwright?" said Sly.

"Leave him to me," Hugo growled, returning to sharpening his sword.

Spotting Wainwright's mansion from the air, Cedric closed his wings and plummeted towards the ground. Smashing onto the patio, Cedric tore through the roof and landed, leaving a crater in the ground. Wainwright sighed, drank the last of his cocktail and stood up.

"Hello cousin," he mused, "You decided to drop in for a visit?"

With an inhuman scream, Cedric shot across the room, hands reaching for Wainwright's neck. Laughing, Wainwright kicked Cedric as he lunged, slamming him into the wall. "You were never really good at conversation dear cousin, but you usually could string a few words together. Ah, I forgot, you're probably still furious about your girlfriend's death. Sorry about the screw up, my orders were for them to kidnap her, not kill her. After all, listening to her scream in agony and rushing here only to find her dead would have been so much better. After all, she would have had other 'uses.' And once I was done with her, I could always give her over to my friends in the triads, they could always use another prostitute."

"Bastard," Cedric snarled, "All this just to get me to come here."

"Of course not. All this to put you suffer as much as possible before I kill you. Which I probably should do before your friends show up so that I'll have time to clean up before I kill them too."

Snapping his fingers, Wainwright lazily sent a blast of fire at Cedric, which Cedric countered with one of his own. Leaping forward, Wainwright slammed his knee into Cedric's chest. Winded, Cedric lashed out in a roundhouse, which Wainwright caught. Throwing Cedric across the room, he charged forward and landed several lightning-fast blows before Cedric could get away.

"You've gone soft cousin. Or perhaps this really is the best you can do for your dearly departed girlfriend.

Suddenly, a blast of darkness flew across the room, slamming into Wainwright. Turning, he saw Grace and Hugo standing in the entrance.

"I'm back," Grace said quietly. Cedric stared at her, unsure if she was real or an illusion created by Wainwright.

"Fantastic! The gang's all here. So Cedric, what should I do to her first, with a body like that she might last for quite a while don't you think?"

As he finished, Grace shot across the room, burying her fist into his face, following up with a series of kicks and punches, forcing Wainwright across the room, before finally slamming him into the wall. Snarling, Wainwright sent a stream of fire at her, only to have her backflip out of harm's way.

"Wait," Cedric asked, "He's mine."

"Ours, he owes me a few broken bones," said Grace. Hugo placed his hand on her shoulder, holding her back.

"This is his fight," Hugo whispered to her, "Let him be the one to end this."

"Thank you," said Cedric so quietly only Grace could hear him.

Summoning his power, Cedric surrounded himself with flames and charged Wainwright. Every time Cedric's blows landed, the flames burned Wainwright. Countering, Wainwright sent waves of fire at Cedric, which he just swept aside.

"Hugo! Give me a barrier around the two of us," Cedric yelled as he and Wainwright continued their battle, "Let's end this Wainwright!"

Putting his hands together, Hugo sent a dome made of darkness around the two of them, containing their power within it. Calling upon every last drop of their power, Cedric and Wainwright sent two blasts of fire at each other, Cedric's red and Wainwright's black. Surging, the blasts broke through the barrier, sending a twisting pillar of fire into the sky.


	29. Epilogue

Epilogue (The Marriage)

First down the aisle came the twelve flower girls, all dressed in azure dresses, tossing handfuls of petals into the air. Carmelita had asked her entire family to participate in the event, despite the fact that most of her family was also in some form of law enforcement. Watching from behind the entranceway, Cedric was amazed to see that although half of the guests were well-known and on the wrong side of the law, not one cop had made a move to arrest them. It was as if for this day both sides had declared a truce in order to respect Carmelita's wishes.

The group of Carmelita's sisters, cousins, and nieces were then followed by the bridesmaids, all dressed in pale pink silk. In a rare bout of insecurity, Carmelita had run the colors for the ladies' gowns past Julie, who had a good sense of fashion. Despite the ranging complexions and species the gowns flattered each girl's natural beauty perfectly. Penelope looked beautiful and demure in hers while Grace's accented her fur, appearing shapely and exotic. Cedric had never seen bridesmaid's dresses that didn't look like bedspreads or Bride of Frankenstein costumes.

After the bridesmaids came the best men, Murray and Bentley, followed by Cedric and Hugo, the groomsmen. While Murray and Bentley were both wearing tuxes (that Sly had insisted they actually buy), Cedric and Hugo wore their home countries' respective uniforms, Hugo in a Brazilian general's dress uniform and Cedric in an Austrian lord's outfit designed during the early 1900s. Together in matching red and black, the two looked like a military honor guard, which was exactly what they were. The two had guessed someone might try to 'disrupt' the occasion, either to arrest Sly or to kill the soon-to-be husband and wife at their most vulnerable moment.

If there has ever been a groom who wasn't out of his mind with anxiety at his wedding, Cedric had never met him. Sly, usually the calmest of his gang during a crisis, walked into the room, jaw clenched, his expression similar to that of a man told that to get into heaven, he has do a cage match with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sly had good reason to be nervous though, he was getting an intelligent and beautiful wife who had plenty of friends and family who would love to have Carmelita marry a more 'respectable' person. Despite this, Sly bore himself with pride due to a master thief, smiling at the people he recognized as he proceeded up the aisle.

Suddenly, the band struck up the Honywagen fanfare and all eyes shot to the door as Carmelita entered. Never in Cedric's wildest dreams could he have imagined that anyone could look that beautiful. Something about the look of pure happiness on her face made her seem to radiate joy as she walked down the aisle. The unspoken rule for all time held true: all brides are beautiful.

Walking in on her father's arm, the two walked down the aisle, her father frowning slightly. He had been the loudest to object to Carmelita's choice but had been forced to accept her choice. It probably helped that he had worked with Cedric and Hugo when his office had hired them for assistance on a particular case.

"Who gives this woman to be wed?" asked the priest in charge of the services for the wedding.

"I do," answered her father before giving her a quick hug and sitting down next to his wife. As the priest began his speech, both Sly and Carmelita seemed to ignore him completely, their eyes reserved only for each other.

"Do you, Sly, take this former Interpol detective to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I most definitely do," he responded, his eyes still locked with Carmelita's.

"And do you, Carmelita take this despicable Master Thief to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"You may exchange rings," the priest said, smiling at the obvious devotion the two had for each other.

"With this ring, I thee wed," proclaimed Sly, his love evident as he slid the ring onto Carmelita's finger.

"And with this ring, I thee wed," Carmelita stated, her love just as strong as Sly's and just as obvious.

Smiling, the priest decided to have mercy on the two lovers, "You may now kiss the bride."

And with that, the two kissed, as man and wife. At this, Cedric felt his eyes burn as the entire room broke into cheer. The bride and groom proceeded back down the aisle to the wedding party.

"Now that was a wedding," came a voice from behind Cedric. He turned to find Grace standing behind him, her eyes swimming with as many tears as his own. He reached out to brush the tears off her face and she pulled him into an embrace.

"Don't you dare leave me ever again," she cried into his shoulder.

"I never will," he promised, holding her in his arms, feeling her shake as she cried, "And don't cry because of me, I don't deserve your tears."

"You're damn right," she sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"Let's go out and join the happy couple, shall we?"

"Yes, lets."

There must have bee at least a hundred people outside in the wedding party. Master thieves form all over the world had come to see Sly's marriage and Carmelita's entire family had shown as well as several cops who she had worked closely with. Dancing had already started by one wall as the band played. Music and laughter rose over the din of people shouting happily. Sly and Carmelita accepted complements and hugs from everyone.

One wolf strode over to Cedric and spoke quietly to him. His name was Daniel Ocean.

"Give my regards to Sly and Carmelita will you, I have to catch a flight," he said quietly so only Cedric could hear.

"I will. Pulling another job huh?"

"Yeah, I need to get back before long." Waving to a fox in the crowd, Dani called his longtime partner Rusty over.

"I'll tell them you were here. Have a safe flight and give Tess my regards."

"See you when I see you," responded Dani as he and Rusty left quietly.

As he and Grace entered the dance floor, Cedric saw the entire gang having a good time. Julie had enticed a couple of guys from both sides and was having the time of her life. Bentley and Penelope were off in a corner with Murray, watching Sly in wedded bliss. Hugo had apparently grown attached to Angelina because she had dragged him out onto the dance floor and Hugo was reluctantly going along with it.

"And here we thought he would die a bachelor," Grace whispered.

Cedric sighed. It had been a long journey that had led them here. Yet, in the end, all of them were the better for it. Looking around, he saw master thieves and cops dealing with each other either friendly or at least politely, all brought together by the two lovebirds. Maybe in the end, none of them were really that different. Each person there, on either side of the law, all were happy for the couple, if a little confused. Smiling at Grace, he figured that whatever happened in the future, they would ready for anything life could throw at them. And if they couldn't, it was nice to have really great friends.

Fin


End file.
